Idaho Fish and Game seeks public comments on expanding state’s wolf hunting season

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game recently published a new statewide wolf population estimate based on an improved model incorporating remote camera surveys and other monitoring efforts. The estimate indicates Idaho’s wolf population remains robust through fluctuations of births and mortality over the year—an estimated peak of 1,541 wolves in summer 2019 after the annual birth cycle.

Since the federal government lifted Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in 2011, the Fish and Game Commission has expanded wolf seasons in a stepwise manner in response to increases in depredations on livestock and predation on other big game species. Despite the Commission’s systematic progression of wolf hunting and trapping seasons, the 2019 wolf population estimate is still at levels well above federal recovery criteria of 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs statewide.

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