Wolf Population Increases Despite Emergency Lethal Efforts by State

The number of gray wolves wandering the wilderness of Washington increased by 28 percent in 2016, according to a report released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Those increases brought the total confirmed wolf population in Washington up to 115 animals, 20 packs and ten successful breeding pairs. What’s more, the wolf gains came during a year when the WDFW employed lethal action against seven wolves from the Profanity Peak pack due to ongoing predation problems and at least seven other wolves died from a variety of causes.

At the end of 2015 there were 90 wolves known to reside in Washington. Taking into account known wolf fatalities, at least 39 new wolves were added to that tally in 2016.

Gray wolves are considered to be endangered in Washington and are listed for protection under state law. In central and western Washington gray wolves are also federally listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Wolves were almost completely eradicated from Washington’s landscapes in the early part of the 20th century due to over hunting and fatal conflicts with farmers and ranchers.

In 2008 the state’s first known resident pack of wolves since the 1930s was documented in Okanogan County. All of the wolves documented in 2016 were found east of the Cascade Mountains. In fact, fifteen of the state’s 20 known packs stick primarily to a four-county vicinity in the northeast corner of the state. Those packs include the Sherman pack, which is one of two new packs to be confirmed last year. The other new pack, the Touchet pack, is located east of Walla Walla in southeast Washington. However, unconfirmed public reports of wolves in western Washington have been noted from Forks to Amboy in recent years.

“Washington’s wolf population continues to grow at about 30 percent each year,” said WDFW Director Jim Unsworth, in a press release. “That increase, along with the concentration of wolves in northeast Washington, underscores the importance of collaborating with livestock producers and local residents to prevent conflict between wolves and domestic animals.”

In 2016 numerous attempts were made to thwart the predation of domestic livestock by the Profanity Peak pack before the decision was made to employee lethal measures. The non-lethal protocol is outlined in the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan of 2011 as well as the guidelines set forth by the WDFW’s 18-member Wolf Advisory Group. Those non-lethal options include cost-sharing agreements with 55 ranchers who took proactive steps to protect their livestock. The state also employed the use of range riders, guardian dogs, fox lights, fladry fence barriers and reports on the pack movements.

There was no conflict with livestock or other domestic animals reported for 16 of the 20 known wolf packs. Four packs and one lone wolf were tied to the deaths of at least one cow or calf in 2016. The Profanity Peak pack inflicted the most damage by killing or injuring at least ten cattle grazing in the Colville National Forest. The Profanity Peak pack predation led to the killing of seven of their wolves and another seven wolves are known to have been killed as a result of legal tribal harvest, other human actions like vehicle traffic, and unknown causes.

“We know that some level of conflict is inevitable between wolves and livestock sharing the landscape,” said Donny Martorello, WDFW wolf manager, in a press release. “For that reason, we are encouraged by the growing number of livestock producers using proactive, non-lethal measures to protect their herds and flocks over the past two years.”

The annual wolf report, compiled in a joint effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Wildlife Service, the Confederated Colville Tribes and the Spokane Tribe of Indians, noted that the WDFW paid out a total of $77,978 in 2016 in order to compensate ranchers for their losses caused by wolf predation.

The full report is available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf.