Monthly wolf report- June 2024

This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during June 2024.

Program updates and coordination

• WDFW is accepting limited applications for statewide contracted range riders in the 2024 season. Visit the Contracted Range Rider RFQ page for applications and contract updates.
  • Due to a directive from the fiscal years 2024-2025 budget provisos, WDFW is working to transition a majority of contracted range riding 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-Ls) in areas where these services are not provided and as funding allows. WDFW-contracted range riders 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 Workinglands 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 Region 1 Conflict and Enforcement staff and a wolf biologist participated in an informational meeting on wolves in Davenport on June 18, in coordination with the Lincoln County Cattleman’s Association. Staff discussed current wolf populations, recovery goals and objectives, the rights of community members when it comes to wolves, husbandry practices to discourage wolf depredations on livestock, and answered many questions from meeting attendees.

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. Read the 2023 Annual Wolf report for more information. The year-end minimum population count for 2024 will be released in April 2025. 

The Fish and Wildlife commission met on June 22 to discuss the Periodic Status Review, the Wolf Population model developed by researchers at University of Washington regarding projected wolf population growth and 2023 annual wolf report numbers provided by WDFW staff. A recording of the commission meeting can be found on TVW. Commissioners will make a decision on the State listing status of wolves at the July 19 Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting.        

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 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
No activity to report. 

Big Muddy territory
No activity to report.

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
No activity to report.

Columbia pack
No activity to report.

Couse pack
WDFW staff investigated an injured calf in this pack territory. Upon investigation, staff determined injury of the calf was due to a confirmed wolf depredation.

Diobsud Creek territory
No activity to report.

Dirty Shirt pack
No activity to report.

Dominion pack
No activity to report. 

Five Sisters pack
No activity to report. 

Goodman Meadows pack
No activity to report.

Grouse Flats pack
No activity to report.

Huckleberry pack
A WDFW biologist captured and collared a wolf in the Huckleberry pack this past month. 

Leadpoint pack
WDFW staff investigated an injured calf in this pack territory. Upon investigation, staff determined injury of the calf was due to a confirmed wolf depredation.

Lookout pack
No activity to report.

Loup Loup pack
No activity to report.

Maverick pack
WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in this pack territory.

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
No activity to report.

Ruby pack
WDFW biologists captured and collared a wolf in this pack territory.

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 
WDFW biologists captured and collared two wolves in this pack territory.

Sullivan Creek pack 
No activity to report.

Togo Pack
WDFW staff investigated a dead calf in this pack territory. Upon investigation, staff determined the mortality was due to probable wolf depredation.

Touchet pack 
No activity to report

Tucannon Pack
WDFW biologists captured and collared a wolf in this pack territory.

Vulcan pack 
No activity to report.

Wedge pack 
No activity to report. 

Other Monitoring Activities Statewide:

WDFW biologists conducted monitoring activities in the former Teanaway and Naneum pack territories. 

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

• No wolf mortalities were documented in June. 
• Since the beginning of the year, WDFW has documented four 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 three depredation events on livestock by wolves in June. The average number of depredation events for the month of June is 2.8 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)).