HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The number of wolves in Montana increased by at least 87 last year despite the state’s efforts to reduce the population with an extended hunting season.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Wednesday that 653 wolves were counted at the end of the year, a population increase of about 15 percent from 2010.
FWP had authorized a quota of 220 wolves in the first hunt since Congress passed legislation last yhear removing endangered species protections for the gray wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountains except for Wyoming.
The agency had aimed to reduce the population to 425 animals with the hunting season. But only 75 percent of the quota was filled and fewer wolves were killed last year than in 2010 in response to livestock predation.