Metolius wolf pack triples in size

With the addition of at least four pups, the Metolius wolves, a pair first identified in 2021, are now six in number, possibly more. Four sets of tracks have been observed by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) wolf biologist Aaron Bott. The average litter size is five.

Bott has thus far been unable to capture the new arrivals on trail cameras. The den is believed to be on private land in a mosaic of public and private property.

Photo courtesy ODFW

Wolf pups from the Imnaha pack captured on an ODFW trail cam in 2015.

The minimum known count of wolves in Oregon at the end of 2023 was 178 wolves, according to the  Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management annual report  released April 24. This is the same number documented in 2022 and does not include 10 wolves translocated to Colorado in 2023 to help establish a wolf population there.

This annual count is based on verified wolf evidence (like visual observations, tracks, and remote camera photographs). The actual number of wolves in Oregon is higher, as not all individuals present in the state are located during the winter count.

A total of 22 packs were documented (down from 24 in 2022), and 15 of those packs met the criteria as breeding pairs, with another 13 groups of two or three wolves also identified.

There were four breeding pairs in Western Oregon in 2022 through December 2023. In late December 2023, three Gearhart Mountain wolves were found dead east of Bly, including the breeding female of the pack. The loss of the fourth breeding pair in 2023 represents a setback in moving to Phase 2 in the West Zone (Western Oregon).

Under the Wolf Plan, ODFW must document four breeding pairs for three consecutive years to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2, which offers more flexibility for responding to livestock depredation under the State's Wolf Plan. Now the clock resets, and the earliest the West Zone can move into Phase 2 is 2027.

Bott told The Nugget, "People see or hear about wolves and automatically assume their numbers grow, but wolf mortality is high. The average life span is only three to four years."

In addition to normal hardships, poaching keeps the numbers somewhat constant.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oregon State Police are seeking information regarding the illegal killing of three gray wolves and two golden eagles in Wallowa County in Eastern Oregon. The deaths occurred in an area of known wolf activity, as defined by ODFW. A $25,000 reward is offered for any information that leads to an arrest, a criminal conviction, or civil penalty assessment.

From February through March, OSP Troopers located the remains of the wolves, eagles, a cougar, and a coyote in the Lightning Creek drainage, a tributary to the Imnaha River. This location is within the Snake River Wildlife Management Unit and Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, approximately 11 miles northeast of the town of Imnaha, Oregon.

Testing and examinations conducted by the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory determined the female gray wolf, male gray wolf, and uncollared gray juvenile wolf, two golden eagles, cougar, and coyote were poisoned.

Wallowa County is located east of Highway 395 where gray wolves are not listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act but are protected by Oregon state law. Eagles are federally protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

"This would be the female's third season for birthing," Bott said. "We're guessing she was not sexually mature in her first year and possibly had pups in her second season, but they did not survive."

Approximately 40 to 60 percent of wolf pups die in their first year.

There are two wolf packs in the Warm Springs AKWA (Area of Known Wolf Activity). In the Warm Springs pack the count stands at seven, a gain of three. The White River pack clocked two, down from four the year before and nine at the end of 2020.

The number of known gray wolves in Oregon has grown from 158 to 178 in the last five years.

Bott does not hold out much hope of collaring any of the Metolius wolves.