This is a weekly update for the Togo pack following the lethal removal authorization by WDFW Director Kelly Susewind on Aug. 9.
WDFW has not removed any wolves since the authorization; the lethal removal authorization is still in effect.
On Aug. 9, WDFW Director Kelly Susewind reauthorized the lethal removal of the two remaining wolves from the Togo pack in response to repeated depredation of cattle on grazing lands in the Kettle River range of Ferry County under the guidance of the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and the lethal removal provisions of the department's wolf-livestock interaction protocol (PDF). This is the third time (Aug. 20, 2018, Nov. 7, 2018, and Aug. 9, 2019) Director Susewind has authorized lethal removal in the Togo pack since a pattern of depredations started on November 2, 2017. The Department removed one wolf on Sept. 2, 2018 under a previous authorization.
The Togo pack has not been involved in any depredations in the last 30 days. The pack was involved in nine depredations in the last 10 months and 18 since Nov. 2017. During one of those depredations, a livestock producer shot a wolf in a caught-in-the-act scenario where the producer responded to a wolf depredating their livestock. Depredation activity and agency wolf removals are summarized in each monthly wolf update.
WDFW has not removed any wolves since the authorization and no depredations have been documented in the pack territory since Sept. 10; these updates will be discontinued unless another depredation is documented, removal activity occurs, or the department moves to an evaluation period.
Previous updates
2019 Togo pack updates
WDFW will provide a final report on this and any other lethal removal operations during 2019 in the Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2019 Annual Report, which will be published during spring 2020. For a summary of removal operations in the Togo pack during 2018, please see page 28 of the Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2018 Annual Report.
A summary of all documented depredation activity within the past ten months is included in every monthly wolf update.