WDFW Releases Annual Washington Wolf Count

A minimum of 230 wolves roamed the Evergreen State at the end of last year, a decrease over the previous count and ending 15 straight years of population growth, though the number of packs grew and overall numbers have still grown 20 percent annually since 2008, even with the one-year decline.

WDFW and tribal managers report there were 43 packs in Washington, 18 of which were successful breeding pairs. That compares to a corrected 254-wolf count in 42 packs and corrected 24 successful breeding pairs in 2023.

At this time last year, WDFW had reported a minimum count of 260 wolves and 25 breeding pairs, but the figures from the Colville Tribe subsequently came under scrutiny and are corrected in the annual report. According to WDFW, the error centered around five wolves harvested by tribal hunters but included in the year-end count and which led to that pack being considered a successful breeding pair though it was not by definition at the time of the count.

That snafu, the first decrease in the annual count and poaching problems will attract attention and hand-wringing – the Center for Biological Diversity was out quickly with a press release terming it “infuriating .. but not shocking” given poaching incidents – and serve to support the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s decision last summer not to downlist the species to threatened or sensitive status, but the count “has grown by an average of 20 percent per year even with the decline seen this past year,” according to WDFW.

“Despite reduced population counts statewide, the number of packs increased in the North Cascades in 2024, and both the North Cascades and Eastern Washington Recovery regions continued to meet or exceed recovery objectives for the fifth year in a row,” stated WDFW Statewide Wolf Specialist Ben Maletzke in a press release.

While wolf numbers continue to grow in the North Cascades region, they’ve stabilized in the Eastern Washington region as territories have filled in. In recent months, there’s been growing talk of looking into translocating wolves from populous regions to areas they’re not.

During his presentation this morning on the annual report, Maletzke also noted unusual wolf movements, including a Rainy Pack female that had made three loops of Lake Chelan, as well as the poaching deaths of three collared wolves in the South Cascades recovery region in recent years. He said the illegal take there is concerning and is slowing down recovery.

That was reinforced in the agency’s press release about the annual count.

“Poaching wolves is unacceptable – in Washington, illegally killing a wolf or other endangered species is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and one year in jail,” stated WDFW Director Kelly Susewind. “In addition, poaching slows the natural recovery of wolves in the state and hinders their ability to reach recovery goals that could allow them to be delisted as a state-endangered species.”

In a press release, Conservation Northwest echoed that, calling “the rise of poaching” the most concerning development in Washington wolf recovery. It’s one of several groups that puts up reward money for info on poaching cases, though the offers are more about raising public awareness around the issue than solving cases, as payouts have been nonexistent in the region, state officials have acknowledged.

“We must come together to address the root causes of conflict,” CNW’s Paula Swedeen added. “Taking frustrations out  on wildlife does nothing to resolve the complex challenges of coexistence, it only deepens  the divide.” 

The annual report states that two packs reformed in Kittitas County – Teanaway and Naneum – and there’s a new one in Okanogan County, Reed, on the Okanogan Valley side of Loup Loup Pass. Two packs also slipped to a single animal, Vulcan in northern Ferry County and Salmo in northern Pend Oreille County.

It also reports that regulated tribal hunting harvest accounted for just over half of 2024’s 37 known wolf mortalities, while one wolf died from ingesting plastic that perforated its gut, another died from a cougar attack, two died following WDFW capture operations and four were lethally removed by the agency in response to livestock depredation, and one was shot while in the act of attacking stock. Maletzke also reported one was shot in self defense in the Pasayten Wilderness and likely died.

During discussion of the report, Fish and Wildlife Commission Chair Barbara Baker of Olympia asked about translocation, which she said legislators had asked her about.

Maletzke said logistically it was possible, as shown with the Colorado reintroduction using Oregon and British Columbia wolves, but there were social tolerance implications and post-recovery planning to consider, elements “above my pay grade.” He said 70 percent of any translocated wolves were likely to die, with others “beelining” back to where they came from, but modeling could at least be done to figure out how fast recovery might occur based on release locations.

Citing the 30-year process to approve moving grizzly bears into the North Cascades, Commissioner Lorna Smith of Port Townsend acknowledged it was complex but said it was owed to Northeast Washington residents.

Dr. Subhadeep “Shubh” Bhattacharjee, the agency’s wolf and grizzly bear lead, noted that there were numerous tribes that would need to be consulted with first.

“Is Western Washington ready to receive the wolves? That is the question,” Bhattacharjee said.

“We’ll probably be hearing about it again,” Baker stated about translocation as lawmakers look to deal with the annual filing of wolf bills in Olympia.

A WDFW list of key wolf developments from 2024 lists these items:

• The state’s minimum year-end wolf population decreased for the first time in 16 years. As of Dec. 31, 2024, WDFW and Tribes counted 230 wolves (9% decrease) in 43 packs in Washington. Eighteen of these packs were successful breeding pairs. These numbers are comparable with the previous year’s count of 254 wolves in 42 packs and 24 breeding pairs. As in past years, survey results represent minimum counts of wolves plus 12.5% to account for lone wolves and dispersers in the state due to the difficulty of accounting for every animal – especially lone wolves unassociated with a pack.
   
• An error was made in the 2023 annual report, and the minimum count and breeding pair numbers have been corrected in the 2024 annual report. Specifically, in the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR) Strawberry pack in 2023, there were five wolves harvested out of that pack during the year that were not subtracted from the CTCR minimum count of eight. The year-end count for that pack should have been reported as three rather than eight. The pack had also been noted as a breeding pair, but did not meet the criteria to be considered as a breeding pair after these harvests were included. Correcting the error in pack size also meant decreasing the number of breeding pairs by one, resulting in a total of 24 successful breeding pairs in 2023. Incorporating the 12.5% correction for lone and dispersing wolves decreased the total minimum count for the 2023 annual report to 254 wolves from 260 (minus five wolves, minus one lone/ disperser).

• Pack sizes (number of individuals in a pack) ranged from two to thirteen wolves. Most packs contained three to six individuals.
   
• Since the first WDFW survey in 2008, the state’s wolf population has grown by an average of 20% per year even with the decline seen this past year.
   
• State, federal, and tribal biologists captured 29 wolves from 22 different packs and monitored a total of 55 unique radio-collared wolves from 25 different packs in 2024.
   
• Three new packs formed or reestablished in 2024 including the Teanaway pack and Naneum pack in Kittitas County and the Reed pack in Okanogan County.
   
• Two cases of wolves being killed illegally were documented in Klickitat County. Investigation into the first case was opened in October 2024. A reward for information is currently offered, more information is available in this press release. Investigation into the second case was opened in December 2024. A reward for information is currently offered, more information is available in this press release.
  
  • USFWS is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest, a criminal conviction, or civil penalty assessment in this case. Non-profit organizations such as Conservation Northwest, Washington Wildlife First, and Center for Biological Diversity are offering an additional $ 30,000 ($ 10,000 from each of these three organizations) in reward money.
     
• One wolf was documented maintaining a territory in a new area that the CTCR called Hayden territory.
   
• Two packs dissolved to just one wolf maintaining a territory, including the former Vulcan pack territory and the former Salmo pack territory.
   
• Fifteen wolves were documented dispersing from their pack territories in 2024. This represents 28% of the collared wolves monitored during the calendar year. Seven collared wolves (13%) dispersed out of the Washington state to British Columbia, Canada, Oregon or Idaho.

• WDFW documented 37 wolf mortalities during 2024 (Table 1), including four removed by WDFW in response to wolf-livestock conflict, one killed while caught in the act of depredating on livestock, two of natural causes (one killed by a cougar, one killed by other wolves), two related to WDFW capture work, one died from ingesting a piece of plastic that perforated its small intestine, 18 legally harvested by CTCR tribal hunters and one by Spokane Tribal hunters, and seven mortalities from unlawful take still under investigation. One wolf was shot in a declared self-defense and likely died; however, the carcass was never located. This investigation was closed with no charges filed.
   
• Wolf populations are managed to ensure progress toward the recovery goals established in WDFW’s 2011 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. Guidance from the plan states that WDFW will minimize the loss of cattle and other livestock without undermining the long-term prospects for the recovery of a self-sustaining wolf population.
   
• WDFW investigators documented 40 depredation events in 2024. Investigation determined that 17 cattle (primarily calves) and one dog were confirmed killed by wolves, two calves were probably killed by wolves, 26 cattle were confirmed injured by wolves and two adult cows, and eight calves were probably injured by wolves.
   
• Up to ten of the 43 (23%) known packs that existed in Washington at some point during 2024 were involved in at least one confirmed or probable livestock injury or mortality. However, four of the ten packs associated with livestock depredations were involved in two or less events each. Seventy-seven percent of known packs were not involved in any known livestock depredation (including probable depredations) even though many of the pack territories overlap livestock operations.
   
• During calendar year 2024, WDFW spent a total of $1,652,802 on wolf management activities, including $81,631 for Damage Prevention Cooperative Agreements – Livestock (DPCA-L) non-lethal conflict prevention expenses (range riding, specialized lighting and fencing, etc.), $49,019 for WDFW contracted range riders, $139,543 for claims for livestock losses caused by wolves, $110,660 for lethal removal operations in response to depredations on livestock, and $1,271,950 for wolf management and research activities.