This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during January 2022.
Program updates and coordination
- On Feb. 10, 2022, a U.S. District Judge’s order to restore federal protection for gray wolves in certain areas of the U.S. means that wolves in Washington are now federally endangered in the western two-thirds of the state. Wolves in that area were previously listed under the Endangered Species Act until January 4, 2021. As of the date of the judge’s ruling, the federal status of wolves in Washington reverts to its previous listing prior to January 4, 2021:
- Wolves are federally delisted in Washington east of Highway 97 from the British Columbia border south to Monse, Highway 17 from Monse south to Mesa, and Highway 395 from Mesa south to the Oregon border, and are federally listed west of these highways.
- Please note that the “caught in the act” provision (section 1) of WAC 220-440-080 only applies to the area of the state where the gray wolf is not listed as endangered or threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (the eastern one-third of Washington), and is now no longer available in the western two-thirds of Washington.
- Of the 29 known wolf packs in Washington, 23 reside in the eastern third of the state where wolves have not been federally listed under the US Endangered Species Act since 2011.
- WDFW is committed to the recovery of wolves in Washington, and they remain listed as endangered by WDFW throughout the state. We will continue to work closely with partners, stakeholders, and communities, just as we have over the past decade, on the recovery, conservation, and management of wolves in Washington, with a focus on achieving the state’s recovery objectives and mitigating conflict between wolves and livestock. The state of Washington has facilitated wolf recovery for more than a decade and remains prepared to be the management authority for wolves statewide.
- The Wolf Advisory Group held a virtual meeting on Jan. 6-7. Meeting notes and associated materials are available on the Wolf Advisory group page under the Meetings tab.
- The Wolf Committee of the Fish and Wildlife Commission met on Jan. 13 to have a discussion with the University of Washington team working on a wolf population model for Washington about metrics used to inform wolf recovery. The meeting recording is available here.
Outreach and education
WDFW published a blog post in January providing information on how widely wolves travel and why it is most effective to count them in winter. WDFW regularly receives wolf sighting reports from around the state, even in areas without confirmed wolf packs. But even when it is confirmed that a wolf has been spotted in an area, it doesn't mean there are now resident wolves there. At any time of the year, 10-15% of Washington's wolf population is on the move, dispersing from their pack territory into and through other parts of the northwest. Check out the blog post here.
Current population status and proactive conflict mitigation
The year-end minimum population count for 2020 was at least 132 known wolves in 24 known packs including at least 13 breeding pairs. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation reported 46 wolves in five packs. 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. The year-end minimum population count for 2021 will be released in April 2022.
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 (use some way to measure the size of a track) and upload them to the wolf reporting page via the following link: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/gray-wolf/observations
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.
As of this update, WDFW biologists completed aerial count and capture operations to inform the 2021 annual wolf population count. In total, biologists deployed 14 collars in 12 different packs. Biologists are also continuing to gather data for the annual minimum wolf count. The year-end minimum population count for 2021 will be released in April 2022. A new blog post showing how WDFW captures and collars wolves from the air is available here.
Beaver Creek pack
No activity to report.
Butte Creek pack
No activity to report.
Carpenter Ridge pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Diobsud Creek pack
No activity to report.
Dirty Shirt pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Goodman Meadows pack
No activity to report.
Grouse Flats pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Huckleberry pack
No activity to report.
Kettle pack
No activity to report.
Leadpoint pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Lookout pack
WDFW biologists deployed two additional collars in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Loup Loup pack
WDFW biologists deployed two additional collars in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Naneum pack
No activity to report.
Navarre pack
The collar on a wolf in this pack stopped transmitting data in early January, likely due to a collar malfunction.
Onion Creek pack
No activity to report.
Salmo pack
No activity to report.
Sherman pack
No activity to report.
Skookum pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Smackout pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Stranger pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Strawberry pack
No activity to report.
Sullivan Creek pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Teanaway pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations. Biologists also checked trail cameras in this pack territory to inform the annual population survey.
Togo pack
WDFW biologists deployed one additional collar in this pack during aerial count and capture operations.
Touchet pack
No activity to report.
Tucannon pack
No activity to report.
Vulcan pack
No activity to report.
Wedge pack
No activity to report.
Miscellaneous/lone wolves
- As reported in the December 2021 Monthly Wolf Report, a four-year-old male wolf, originally from the Naneum pack, dispersed south and successfully crossed Interstate 90. This wolf has continued to disperse through south central Washington. He traveled south to the Columbia River at the Washington/Oregon state border near White Salmon before turning around and heading back north. As the wolf traveled, local WDFW Wildlife Conflict Specialists worked to make local livestock producers aware of the wolf's movements through the area. WDFW staff discussed two-way communication plans about the wolf's activities, carcass sanitation around livestock operations, and other non-lethal deterrents with livestock producers. This is the second confirmed wolf documented in Klickitat County (a lone wolf was photographed in 2014), and the first to be documented in Skamania County in recent history. This dispersing wolf is still on the move and has not yet settled in a specific area.
Dispersing wolves (those leaving packs in search of their own mates) have been known to travel hundreds of miles away from their home territory, and can cover 30 miles or more in a single day.
- Biologists searched an area south of Rimrock lake in the South Cascades after multiple public observations of wolves were reported in that vicinity in December. Staff did not document any wolf sign, but they deployed trail cameras in the area to monitor for wolf presence.
Note: The Frosty, Nason, Nc’icn, and Whitestone 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
There were no wolf mortalities documented in January. As of this update, WDFW has documented no wolf mortalities in 2022.
Depredation activity
Please report any suspected livestock depredations or the death or harassment of wolves to the WDFW Enforcement Hotline at 1-877-933-9847.
In 2020, 76% of known wolf packs were not involved in any documented livestock depredation.
There were no documented wolf depredations in January.
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).
| Pack | Depredation date | Depredation type | Proactive non-lethals | Ten-month window | Agency lethal removal actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Beaver Creek |
9/5/21 |
Probable mortality of calf |
No |
7/5/22 |
|
|
Leadpoint |
3/26/21 |
Probable injury of calf |
Yes |
1/26/22 |
|
|
|
7/22/21 |
Confirmed mortality of one calf (died from injuries), confirmed injury of second calf |
Yes |
5/22/22 |
|
|
Naneum |
5/7/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
3/7/22 |
|
|
Smackout |
8/30/21 |
Probable injury of two calves |
Yes |
6/30/22 |
|
|
Teanaway |
11/8/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
9/8/22 |
|
|
Togo |
6/24/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/24/22 |
|
|
|
8/6/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf (died from injuries) |
Yes |
6/6/22 |
|
|
|
8/17/21 |
Probable injury of calf |
Yes |
6/17/22 |
|
|
|
8/17/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/17/22 |
|
|
Touchet |
8/10/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf |
Yes |
6/10/22 |
|
|
Area of new wolf activity north of Touchet pack and west of Tucannon pack (Columbia county) |
8/25/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/25/22 |
|
|
|
9/13/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf |
Yes |
7/13/22 |
|
|
|
10/16/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
8/16/22 |
|
|
|
11/1/21 |
Confirmed injury of one calf, probable injury of two calves |
Yes |
9/1/22 |
|
|
|
11/15/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf |
Yes |
9/15/22 |
Adult male lethally removed 11/18/21; juvenile male lethally removed under authorized permit on 12/8/21 |