Sunday, April 6, 2014

More information on the num ber of Idaho's #Wolves

Idaho Says It Had At Least 659 Wolves, 107 Packs At 2013′s End

THE FOLLOWING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME:

The 2013 annual summary of wolf monitoring in Idaho is now available, and shows wolf numbers remain well above the 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs required to keep gray wolves off the endangered species list under the 2009 de-listing rule.

The 2013 Idaho Wolf Monitoring Progress Report includes the current status of the wolf population in Idaho.

Biologists documented 107 wolf packs in Idaho at the end of 2013, fewer than the 117 documented at the end of 2012, but still the second highest documented since reintroduction.  Seven additional packs were added to the 2012 total based on evidence collected during 2013, bringing that total to 124 packs.

Not all packs are presumed documented.  An estimated 659 wolves were associated with documented packs of wolves in Idaho at the end of 2013.

In addition, 28 documented border packs were counted in Montana, Wyoming and Washington that established territories overlapping the Idaho state border and spent some time in Idaho.
Of packs investigated for evidence of reproduction, 49 were known to have reproduced. Of those, 20 qualified as breeding pairs at the end of the year.

In Idaho, wolf packs ranged from the Canadian border south to the Snake River Plain, and from the Washington and Oregon borders east to the Montana and Wyoming borders. Dispersing wolves were occasionally reported in previously unoccupied areas.

Harvest by hunters and trappers accounted for 356 wolves killed during 2013.  Control efforts and legal landowner take in response to wolf-livestock depredation accounted for the deaths of 94 wolves.
Mean pack size was 5.4 at the end of 2013, approximately 33 percent smaller than the 8.1 wolves per pack average during the 3 years prior to the establishment of harvest seasons in 2009.

Sixteen wolf deaths were attributed to other human causes. The causes of seven wolf mortalities could not be determined and were listed as unknown.

Also in 2013, 39 cattle, 404 sheep, four dogs and one horse were confirmed as wolf kills. Seven cattle, nine sheep, and one dog were considered probable wolf kills.

The Idaho progress report is available online at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/wolves

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northern Rocky Mountain progress report, which includes reports from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, is available at:http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/

source 

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