Wyoming has at least 311 wolves
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online!
April 17, 2020
At the end of 2019, Wyoming’s wolf population exceeded recovery criteria for the 18th consecutive year, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s annual wolf report. At least 311 wolves in 43 packs inhabit the state, including 94 wolves in eight packs in Yellowstone National Park, and 16 wolves and three packs on the Wind River Reservation.
According to the report, at least 175 wolves in 27 packs reside in northwestern Wyoming’s trophy zone for wolves, and 26 wolves in five packs live in the predator zone and are not actively monitored.
A total of 96 wolf mortalities were documented in all of Wyoming last year, including three in Yellowstone, and one on the Wind River Reservation. There were 88 human-caused mortalities, including 26 wolves killed during the hunting season in 2019 in the trophy zone, 23 wolves killed in the predator zone, and 30 wolves lethally removed by agencies or the public following livestock conflicts.
Wolves were confirmed to have killed 70 head of livestock (42 cattle, 27 sheep and 1 donkey) and one dog in Wyoming in 2019, and an additional 11 cattle and one donkey were confirmed as injured by wolves. Nineteen packs were involved in at least one livestock depredation.
Wolves not belonging to an identified wolf pack were responsible for 96% of sheep conflicts (26 sheep) in the predator zone. Of the 18 packs involved in confirmed cattle conflicts, three packs (the Beartooth, Coyote Meadows, and Soda Lake packs) were responsible for 38% of those conflicts.
Federal and state agencies spent about $1.9 million on wolf monitoring and management in Wyoming in 2019, or about $6,170 per wolf roaming the state at the end of 2019.
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