Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2023 Annual Report

From Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:

Each year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) submits a report to the federal government for Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 6 activities. This document details the results of its annual gray wolf (Canis lupus) population survey and summarizes wolf recovery and management activities from the previous year.

Washington’s wolf population was virtually eliminated in the 1930s but has rebounded since 2008, when a resident pack was documented in Okanogan County. Since then, the number of wolves has increased to a minimum of 260 wolves reported in 2023. Packs range across public and private land in Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties in the northeast corner of the state and Asotin, Garfield, Columbia, and Walla Walla counties in southeast Washington, and increasing numbers are present in Okanogan, Chelan, and Kittitas counties in the Northern Cascades Recovery area. Although the first pack to recolonize the South Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery region only had one wolf during the year end counts in 2023, we have observed multiple collared wolves cross I-90 in the last year, which likely means it is only a matter of time before new packs begin to establish in that recovery region.

 

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Wolf from Great Lakes population confirmed in Colorado

From Summit Daily:

A rancher in Elbert County, Colorado, contacted Colorado Parks and Wildlife after discovering a dead wolf-like animal in a legal coyote trap on April 3 on a ranch in eastern Colorado. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that this animal is a gray wolf from the Great Lakes wolf population. This is not a wolf from the 10 recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023.

As a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, the service is investigating this incident and is working in coordination with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. As an open and active investigation, no additional details are available at this time.

 

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Rage over a Wyoming wolf’s torment persists. But will it change anything?

From

RIVERTON, Wyo. — From her home in the South Carolina countryside town of Six Mile, Lorraine Finazzo typically spends her weekdays managing construction projects for a New York City real estate developer.

Because of an incident involving a Wyoming wolf over 1,500 miles away, her productivity has waned of late.

 

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Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

From The Minnesota Daily:

Last January, the University of Minnesota’s Voyageurs Wolf Project posted to its Facebook about the amount of tagged wolves illegally killed in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, located near the Canadian border in Minnesota.

According to the post, 37% of wolves with collars or ear tags killed by people are poached. If wolves killed for preying on livestock are removed that number inflates to 54%.

 

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Fate of Wyoming wolf policy reform in Legislature’s hands

From Jackson Hole News & Guide:

RIVERTON — Keith Nelson pulled no punches.

In his mind, an alleged incident of wolf abuse at a Daniel bar had blown a hole in Wyoming wolf policy. A rather large hole.

“This guy drove a snow machine through the state statute,” Nelson told the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Wednesday.

 

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Colorado’s reintroduced wolves have killed four more cattle in Grand County

From CPR News:

It appears wolves have killed four cattle in Grand County over the last week, marking the largest cluster of livestock losses since Colorado reintroduced the species in the area last December.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the attacks in a statement on Thursday and a spokesperson said the predators likely came from a group of wolves released by the agency in December as part of a voter-approved reintroduction plan. The attack comes just weeks after the first confirmed cattle death linked to the reintroduced wolves.

 

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Controversial wolf killing appears to help caribou, but concerns persist

From Science.org:

Since 2015, a slaughter has unfolded in the mountains of British Columbia, all in the name of saving southern mountain caribous, classified as threatened in Canada. Each winter, sharpshooters hired by the provincial government kill hundreds of wolves from low-flying helicopters, sometimes using a tracking collar attached to a “Judas wolf” that leads them to other pack members. Nearly 2200 of the predators had been killed, including 248 in the most recent winter.

The policy has provoked lawsuits and protests from conservation groups and dueling papers in scientific journals about whether the carnage benefits caribou herds. This week, in Ecological Applications, a research team looking at 51 years of population trends and conservation actions offers the most complete analysis yet of the divisive issue. Even critics of the culling say it offers compelling data that, at least in the short term, killing wolves is one of the few actions that aids ailing caribou populations.

 

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Oregon’s Troubling 2023 Wolf Report

From Oregon Wild:

Late last Friday afternoon, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) released its 2023 Wolf Report. The report, which was not directly linked to in the agency’s press release, update page, or email reveals a series of disturbing trends.

ODFW attempted to present its data in the most positive light. This is a trend we’ve discussed before. We even named our first deep-dive “Friday Trash” after the agency’s pattern of releasing embarrassing news on Friday afternoons to avoid scrutiny. For more analysis, check out our 2018 edition called “Spring Cleaning.”

 

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Poaching, suspicious deaths raise concern for Oregon gray wolf population

From Yahoo News:

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is showing concern over the number of confirmed poaching incidents and suspicious deaths of gray wolves in the state within the last year.

A new report released Thursday from the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management shows the state’s wolf population did not grow at all in 2023, remaining at 178 at the end of the year. This is first year of zero annual growth in 16 years, according to ODFW. The growth from 175 to 178 between 2021 and 2022 was also not much of an improvement, with the Center for Biological Diversity calling the stunted growth “a tragedy.”

 

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World-record coyote turns out to be protected gray wolf

From News Nation:

CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. (WJW) – Michigan wildlife officials are investigating the killing of a rare gray wolf.

According to a press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, a hunter reported that he killed a large coyote. Coyotes typically weigh up to 40 pounds. This creature was 84 pounds. Genetic tests by the department showed the large animal was a gray wolf.

 

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