Friday, January 24, 2014

IDFG to Senate: About 600 Wolves in Idaho. A 30% Decline Since 2009

Yesterday, according to a Magic Valley Times-News report, Jeff Gould of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game told the Senate Resources and Environment Committee that there are about 600 wolves remaining in Idaho. This number is preliminary and the final number won’t be published until sometime in March but, if it is accurate, it means that the population has declined by about 30% since 2009 when the population was estimated to be 856 wolves at the end of that year. By my tally, which is based on numbers acquired from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game through state records requests and numbers published on their hunting quota tallies, there were 464 wolves killed in Idaho during 2013, all but a few were human caused.

Of course the far right Senators don’t appear to believe that the population is declining but they also seem concerned that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game may not be able to back up what they are saying.

Keep in mind that the wolf population numbers are estimates and no longer based on only the number of wolves that they can confirm. There is a complex equation used to determine the number that is based on several factors. The actual number could be higher or lower than the estimate even though they claim that the number is a minimum. The number does indicate a trend in the population, however.

source

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