- More suspected
By Dennis L. Clay,
Special to the Herald
This is the second of three columns about wolves in Washington State.
Washington currently has five wolf packs. A successful breeding wolf pack is documented by locating a breeding pair of adults with two or more pups that survive until Dec. 31, according to Fish and Wildlife.
The first wolf pack was found in Washington in July 2008. This pack is located in Okanogan County north of Lake Chelan and was named the Lookout Pack.
It consisted of seven animals, two adults, a 2-year-old and four pups born in 2009. The status of this pack is unclear as of Sept. 2010, as the female has not been seen and there have been no new pups.
A second pack was documented in July of 2009 in Pend Oreille County, east of Colville, and named the Diamond Pack.
The breeding pair produced six pups in 2009 and six the following year. Four of the pups born in 2009 lived until the end of the year. This pack moves between Idaho and Washington.
A wolf pup was caught and tagged in September 2010 and this animal indicated a third pack was in the state, later confirmed as a pack and named the Salmo Pack. This group is located in the northeast corner of Washington, almost to the spot where Canada, Idaho and Washington connect.
A fourth pack was documented in June 2011 and was named the Teanaway Pack in Kittitas County, west of Ellensburg. A DNA study of the adult female suggested she may have come from the Lookout Pack. In July 2011 the state’s fifth wolf pack was confirmed in Northeast Stevens County, north and east of Kettle Falls, and named the Smackout Pack.
Wolf packs are forming at a fast pace in this state; one each in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Now the pace seems to be increasing with two wolf packs confirmed in 2011.
In addition to the five confirmed wolf packs, there are also five suspected packs. The suspected Wedge Pack is due north of Kettle Falls and straddles the Canadian border. The Boulder Creek Pack is a few miles west of Kettle Falls and the Ruby Creek group is a little northeast of Chewelah. If these three are confirmed, it would put six wolf packs in the most northeast part of the state, all north of Chewelah.
There are two other suspected wolf packs; one is the Hozomeen Pack on the Canadian border near the Cascade Crest Trail and the Touchet Pack is on the Oregon/Washington border halfway between Walla Walla and the Idaho border.
Wolves will be taken from the Washington’s endangered species list once 15 successful breeding pairs are documented for three consecutive years in the three wolf-recovery regions. There needs to be four pairs in Eastern Washington, four in the North Cascades, four pairs in the South Cascades/Northwest Coast and three pairs in any recovery region.
A colonel from Fairchild Air Force Base was traveling to Moses Lake last December. When he arrived, he said he had seen a wolf along I-90. Recently I relayed this sighting to Steve Pozzanghera, Fish and Wildlife Regional Director for Region 1.
“Interesting,” Pozzanghera said, conveying having wolves beginning to travel from north to south of I-90 will be a major factor in the recovery.
Last December’s end of year survey by Fish and Wildlife found three successful breeding pairs totaling at least 27 wolves and offered the following specifics about the five confirmed packs:
“Diamond Pack, in Pend Oreille County and Idaho, numbers 10 wolves, including a breeding pair with at least two pups. A 2-year-old, radio-collared, female wolf was legally trapped and killed in Idaho in December before the count was made. Another radio-collared female from the pack was last located in November in Idaho and is currently missing; a third radio-collared female remains with the pack.
“Smackout Pack, in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, numbers five wolves, including a successful breeding pair with three pups. None have radio collars.
“Salmo Pack, in Pend Oreille County and British Columbia, includes three wolves. One wolf with a VHF radio collar is still being monitored.
“Teanaway Pack, in Kittitas County, numbers seven wolves, including a successful breeding pair with at least two pups. The breeding female is equipped with a GPS radio collar and still is being monitored.
“Lookout Pack, in Okanogan County includes two wolves with no pups; neither has a functioning radio collar.”
There will be individual animals roaming the state as more packs are formed. Plus there will most likely be more packs on the landscape than successful breeding pairs.
Next week: The life of a wolf.