By ICTMN Staff
Wildlife authorities in Washington State have discovered an eighth wolf pack, identified after its alpha male was tagged and a pup captured.
Named the Wedge Pack, it brings wolves one step closer to being knocked off the state’s endangered species list, KING 5 News reported out of Kettle Falls, in northeastern Washington. The discovery comes on the heels of the June identification of wolf pack number seven, according to the Associated Press. That one, dubbed the Huckleberry pack, was discovered in Sevens County, which is north of the Spokane Indian Reservation, AP reported.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), wolves also attacked sheep in northeast Washington in June. A remote camera (see below) documented five gray wolf pups just north of the Spokane Indian Reservation, according to a media release from the agency.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has already removed wolves from the federal list in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. These are in addition to the Nc’icn pack, which was documented on the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation in June, the USFWS said.
State wildlife officials are offering reimbursement to livestock owners if their animals are subject to depredation, according to a report in the Statesman Examiner newspaper. Montana and Minnesota are already allowing limited wolf hunting if livestock is endangered, with Idaho not far behind.