This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during August 2024.
Program updates and coordination
- WDFW is accepting limited applications for statewide contracted range riders in 2024 . Applications and contract updates can be found in WDFW’s website.
- Due to a directive from the fiscal years 2024-2025 budget provisos, WDFW is working to transition a majority of contracted range riding (CRR) in northeast Washington to Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) grant funded local non-profits providing those non-lethal deterrent services. WDFW will continue to offer Damage Prevention Cooperative Agreements for Livestock (DPCA-L) in areas where these services are not provided and as funding allows. WDFW-contracted range riders (CRR) will only be employed when a clearly identified gap exists that cannot be covered by one of the non-government groups providing range riding, or under a cost-sharing DPCA-L.
- Due to a directive from the fiscal years 2024-2025 budget provisos, WDFW is working to transition a majority of contracted range riding (CRR) in northeast Washington to Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) grant funded local non-profits providing those non-lethal deterrent services. WDFW will continue to offer Damage Prevention Cooperative Agreements for Livestock (DPCA-L) in areas where these services are not provided and as funding allows. WDFW-contracted range riders (CRR) will only be employed when a clearly identified gap exists that cannot be covered by one of the non-government groups providing range riding, or under a cost-sharing DPCA-L.
- WDFW encourages anyone who might have relevant information on poaching to report it confidentially by calling WDFW's poaching hotline, 877-933-9847, or by texting a tip to 847411.
Gray wolves are listed as endangered under state law throughout Washington. In the western two-thirds of the state, they are also listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Under state law, the illegal killing of a wolf or other endangered fish, or wildlife species is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.
- WDFW continues to support the Conflict on Working lands Conservation Innovation Grant (CoW-CIG) research team’s evaluation of the effectiveness of range riding at reducing conflicts between livestock and carnivores. The Conservation on Working Lands Conservation Innovation Grant (CoW-CIG) is a collaborative team consisting of livestock producers, Western Landowners Alliance, Heart of the Rockies, Defenders of Wildlife, Wildlife Services, and other state and federal wildlife agencies, and Utah, Colorado, and Montana state universities. The team is tasked with evaluating the effectiveness of several nonlethal tools at reducing conflict between livestock, wolves, and grizzly bears.
Outreach and education
WDFW biologist gave a presentation to students with the Wilderness Awareness School in the Teanaway area of Kittitas County.
WDFW biologist gave a presentation to children at the Carpenter Memorial Library in Cle Elum, WA in Kittitas County
Current population status and proactive conflict mitigation
The year-end minimum population count for 2023 was at least 260 known wolves in 42 known packs including at least 25 successful breeding pairs. Annual wolf population surveys are conducted in the winter because wolf populations experience the least amount of natural fluctuation during this time. Counting the population at the end of each year allows for comparable year-to-year trends at a time of year when the wolf population is most stable. A link to the 2023 Annual Wolf report can be found in WDFW’s website. The year-end minimum population count for 2024 will be released in April 2025.
As part of a Periodic Status Review (PSR) of the species, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission decided on July 19, 2024 to retain the state status of gray wolves as endangered. . WDFW will continue to work closely with partners, stakeholders, and communities, just as over the past decade, on the recovery, conservation, and management of wolves in Washington, with a focus on reducing conflict between wolves and livestock, emphasizing proactive nonlethal conflict deterrence, achieving statewide recovery objectives, and supporting wolf expansion into all suitable habitat statewide.
WDFW will revisit the state status of wolves as part of a future periodic status review process or sooner if the recovery objectives of the state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan are met within five years. The recorded commission meeting can be found on the TVW website.
Reports of remote camera images or videos, wolf tracks, or sightings from the public are extremely helpful in locating previously undocumented wolf activity and potential new packs on the landscape. Please take photos of wolves or wolf sign (learn how to differentiate between wolves and coyotes; use some way to measure the size of a track) and upload them to the wolf observation reporting page.
Definitions: A “pack” is defined as two or more wolves traveling together in winter, and a “breeding pair” is defined as at least one adult male and one adult female wolf that raised at least two pups that survived until December 31. In any given year, the number of packs will always be greater than or equal to the number of breeding pairs. The known territories and more information for each pack can be viewed by clicking the pack name.
Beaver Creek pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Big Muddy territory
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this territory.
Butte Creek pack
No activity to report.
Carpenter Ridge pack
No activity to report.
Chewuch pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Chopaka pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Columbia pack
WDFW biologists confirmed injury of a calf in this pack territory in August 2024.
Couse pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Diobsud Creek territory
No activity to report.
Dirty Shirt pack
No activity to report.
Dominion pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory. Updates for the Dominion pack were provided on Aug. 9 and Aug. 13, 2024.
Five Sisters pack
No activity to report.
Goodman Meadows pack
No activity to report.
Grouse Flats pack
No activity to report.
Huckleberry pack
No activity to report.
Leadpoint pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory. Updates for the Leadpoint pack were provided on Aug. 1, Aug. 9, and Aug. 19, 2024.
Lookout pack
No activity to report.
Loup Loup pack
No activity to report.
Maverick pack
No activity to report.
Mt. Spokane pack
No activity to report.
Naneum territory
No activity to report.
Napeequa pack
No activity to report.
Navarre pack
No activity to report.
Onion Creek pack
WDFW biologists confirmed mortalities of two calves in this pack territory in August 2024. Biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Ruby pack
No activity to report.
Salmo pack
No activity to report.
Scatter pack
No activity to report.
Shady Pass pack
No activity to report.
Sherman pack
No activity to report.
Smackout territory
No activity to report.
Sprague Lake territory
No activity to report.
Stranger Pack
No activity to report.
Sullivan Creek pack
WDFW confirmed mortality of one calf and injury of two calves and an adult cow within this pack territory in August 2024. As this pack territory is in the part of the state where wolves are managed by federal authorities, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was notified of the determination.
Togo Pack
No activity to report.
Touchet pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Tucannon Pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Vulcan pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.
Wedge pack
No activity to report.
Other Monitoring Activities Statewide:
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in the former Teanaway and Naneum pack territories. Biologists also checked cameras south of Highway 12 in Yakima County to follow up on wolf reports from the public.
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities west of Curlew Lake in northeast Washington in response to a confirmed wolf depredation on Aug. 22, 2024. This area is not currently being used by any confirmed packs and staff are working to determine which wolves were responsible for the depredation and if they are still in the area.
Note: The Dollar Mountain, Frosty, Nason, Nc’icn, Keller Ridge, Strawberry, Whitestone, and Wilmont pack territories are within Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR) lands and are managed under tribal authority. Information regarding these packs is proprietary and reported at the discretion of the CTCR.
Mortalities
- Three wolf mortalities were documented in August including WDFW’s lethal removal of one adult male wolf from Dominion pack territory in response to repeated depredations of cattle, while two wolf mortalities are currently under investigation by WDFW Enforcement.
- Since the beginning of the year, WDFW has documented ten wolf mortalities in 2024.
Depredation activity
In general, about 80% of known wolf packs in Washington have not been involved in any documented livestock depredation in any given year. WDFW staff documented 12 depredation events by wolves on a total of 18 livestock in August 2024. The average number of depredation events for the month of July is 7.0 based on depredation records from 2019-2023.
Please report any suspected livestock depredations or the death or harassment of wolves to the WDFW Enforcement Hotline at 1-877-933-9847.
Below is a summary of packs with documented depredation activity within the past ten months (some packs have depredation history prior to the current ten-month window; this timeframe is considered based on guidance from the wolf-livestock interaction protocol (PDF)).
| Pack | Depredation date | Depredation type | Proactive non-lethals | Ten-month window | Agency lethal removal actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | 8/6/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 calf | Yes | 6/6/25 | |
| Couse | 6/27/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 calf | No | 4/27/25 | |
| 7/06/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 5/06/25 | ||
| 7/08/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 cow | Yes | 5/08/25 | ||
| 7/08/24 | Probable injury of 1 cow | Yes | 5/08/25 | Agency Removal not authorized; One wolf was killed (Investigation ongoing) | |
| Dominion | 7/19/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 cow | Yes | 5/19/25 | |
| 7/27/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf and injury of 4 calves | Yes | 5/27/25 | ||
| 7/28/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 5/28/25 | ||
| 7/30/24 | Confirmed injury of 2 calves | Yes | 5/30/25 | ||
| 8/1/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf and injury of 2 calves | Yes | 6/1/25 | ||
| 8/2/24 | Confirmed injury of 2 calves | Yes | 6/2/25 | ||
| 8/4/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 6/4/25 | ||
| 8/6/24 | Confirmed injury of 3 calves | Yes | 6/6/25 | On 08/13, WDFW lethally removed an adult male wolf from the Dominion pack territory. With the removal of this wolf, the lethal removal authorization is now expired. | |
| Grouse Flats | 7/19/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 adult cow | Yes | 5/19/25 | |
| Leadpoint | 6/28/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 calf – died later | Yes | 4/28/25 | One wolf was killed on 07/26 (Investigation ongoing) On 08/12, WDFW Director authorized lethal removal of up to two adult wolves from this pack. As of 08/19, WDFW has not removed a wolf despite daily and continued efforts utilizing multiple different methods and the authorization expired on that day. |
| 7/25/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 5/25/25 | ||
| 7/28/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 calf | Yes | 5/28/25 | ||
| 8/2/24 | Probable injury of 1 cow | Yes | 6/2/25 | ||
| Onion Creek | 8/10/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 6/10/25 | |
| 8/15/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 6/15/25 | ||
| Sullivan Creek | 12/14/23 | Confirmed injury of 1 adult cow | Yes | 10/14/24 | |
| 5/16/24 | Probable mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 3/16/25 | ||
| 7/26/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 calf | Yes | 5/26/25 | ||
| 8/10/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 6/10/25 | ||
| 8/12/24 | Confirmed injury of 1 cow and 2 calves | Yes | 6/12/25 | ||
| Togo | 6/28/24 | Probable mortality of 1 calf | Yes | 4/28/25 | |
| Unknown | 8/22/24 | Confirmed mortality of 1 calf | No | 6/22/25 |
Packs referenced in this update
- Beaver Creek ,
- Big Muddy ,
- Butte Creek ,
- Carpenter Ridge ,
- Chewuch ,
- Chopaka ,
- Columbia ,
- Couse ,
- Diamond ,
- Diobsud Creek ,
- Dirty Shirt ,
- Dollar Mountain ,
- Dominion ,
- Five Sisters ,
- Frosty ,
- Goodman Meadows ,
- Grouse Flats ,
- Huckleberry ,
- Keller Ridge ,
- Kettle ,
- Leadpoint ,
- Lookout ,
- Loup Loup ,
- Maverick ,
- Mt. Spokane ,
- Naneum ,
- Napeequa ,
- Nason ,
- Navarre ,
- Nc'icn ,
- Onion Creek ,
- OPT ,
- Profanity Peak ,
- Ruby ,
- Salmo ,
- Scatter ,
- Shady Pass ,
- Sherman ,
- Skagit ,
- Skookum ,
- Smackout ,
- Sprague Lake ,
- Stranger ,
- Strawberry ,
- Sullivan Creek ,
- Teanaway ,
- Togo ,
- Touchet ,
- Tucannon ,
- Vulcan ,
- Wedge ,
- Wenatchee ,
- Whitestone ,
- Wilmont