The most recent population survey completed in Washington displays at least four new packs of wolves roaming the state. The number of wolves still increased by 32 percent last year despite a number of deaths among the population and shows no sign of slowing down.
Seven wolves were believed to have been killed in various ways including; legal hunting on the Spokane Indian Reservation, collisions with motor vehicles and one was known to have been shot by a property owner.
Only one of the deaths remains a mystery to Washington wildlife biologists.
Back in 2008, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reported only one pack made up of five wolves in the entire state. That number has since grown by 36 percent every year since.
Despite rapid population growth, conflicts between wolves and livestock actually decreased in 2015 and many believe human presence by way of horseback riders to be the difference. The Department of Fish and Wildlife aided riders and livestock producers by providing them with radio-collar data in a effort to alert ranchers and range riders of the possibility of wolves in the area.
After gray wolves were essentially eliminated from the western landscape in the United States, the animals are now protected in Washington State under the federal Endangered Species Act west of highway 97.
