wolves Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Complaint to federal agency over Washington animal organization

By Lauren Gallup August 1, 2024

Two canids at the Predators of the Heart facility in Anacortes. The organization also goes by Because We Matter Exotic Animal Rescue. (Courtesy: Debbie Sodl / Because We Matter Exotic Animal Rescue)

In Skagit County, a nonprofit that houses a number of animals, including exotic ones, is in continued legal battles. A law firm that advocates for animal rights is claiming the organization may have violated the Endangered Species Act, by, as the law firm claims in its complaint, the illegal euthanization of wolves. Read More

Wolves remain endangered in Washington state

By Courtney Flatt July 22, 2024

Washington state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to keep gray wolves’ endangered status. (Credit: William Campbell) Listen (Runtime 0:54) Read Gray wolves will keep their endangered status in Washington state. […]Read More

Nez Perce Tribe honors the wolf

By Lauren Paterson January 30, 2024

A photo from a game trail camera shows a pack of white, grey and black wolves walking across a snowy mountainside with evergreen trees behind them.

In this Feb. 1, 2017, file image provided the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a wolf pack is captured by a remote camera in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area […]Read More

Washington leaders try to find solutions for wolf depredations and killing of wolves

By Courtney Flatt January 20, 2024

A gray wolf. (Credit: William Campbell) Listen (Runtime 1:07) Read Some ranchers are saying it is time to find creative ways to deal with wolf attacks on livestock. That’s what […]Read More

Will some Northwest wolves call Colorado home?

By Courtney Flatt June 29, 2023

A gray wolf. Credit: William Campbell Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read Northwest wolves could soon be on their way to Colorado. Wildlife managers there say they need to bring wolves to […]Read More

Study: people mean different things when they talk about managing wolves through fear

By Courtney Flatt December 22, 2022

There’s a lot of misunderstanding when people talk about wolf management, according to a new study out of the University of Washington.Read More

Wildlife officials confirm 6 wolf poisonings in northeastern Washington

By Courtney Flatt October 11, 2022

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking for the public’s help to find who poisoned six wolves in northeastern Washington.Read More

A Wolf In Northeastern Washington Was Killed Illegally. Here’s Why It’s A Big Deal

By NWPB News July 8, 2021

A sign on the side of trailer in Stevens County, Washington, near Chewelah off U.S. Highway 395 prompts people to report "dangerous wildlife" like cougars and wolves. CREDIT: Scott Leadingham/NWPB

Wolf poachers go mostly undiscovered — but that hasn’t stopped nonprofit organizations from putting up significant cash rewards for information about these incidents. While rewards generally don’t lead to convictions, Defenders of Wildlife’s Gwen Dobbs says reward offers in cases of wildlife poaching can help raise public awareness, “hopefully serving as a deterrent Read More

A Push To Revive Federal Protections For Wolves After New State Laws Allow More Killing

By NWPB News May 26, 2021

In this Feb. 1, 2017 image provided the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a wolf pack is captured by a remote camera in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in northeast Oregon near the Idaho border. Wildlife advocates pressed the Biden administration on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators. CREDIT: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP

Wildlife advocates are pressing the Biden administration to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators.Read More

Scientists Urge Federal Government To Restore Protections For Gray Wolves

By NWPB News May 16, 2021

In this Sept. 26, 2018 photo, provided by the National Park Service, a 4-year-old female gray wolf emerges from her cage as it is released at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. A group of scientists urged the Biden administration Thursday, May 13, 2021, to restore legal protections for gray wolves, saying their removal earlier in the year was premature and states were allowing too many of the animals to be killed. CREDIT: National Park Service via AP

A group of scientists urged the Biden administration Thursday to restore legal protections for gray wolves, saying their removal earlier this year was premature and that states are allowing too many of the animals to be killed.Read More

Governor Signs Bill Allowing For Killing Of Up To 90% Of Wolves In Idaho

By NWPB News May 7, 2021

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a measure that could lead to killing 90% of the state’s 1,500 wolves in a move that was backed by hunters and the state’s powerful ranching sector but heavily criticized by environmental advocates.Read More

Ex-Wildlife Managers Want Governor To Veto Bill Poised To Eliminate 90% Of Wolves In Idaho

By NWPB News April 29, 2021

Nearly 30 retired state, federal and tribal wildlife managers sent a letter Wednesday to Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little asking him to veto a bill backed by agricultural interests that could cut the state’s wolf population by 90%.Read More

Wolf Numbers Continue To Grow In Washington, But Still No Hunting As Idaho Allows

By Tom Banse April 25, 2021

A gray wolf in the Teanaway pack in central Washington. CREDIT: WDFW

The number of wolves in Washington state rose strongly last year, according to an annual report from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife released Friday. The rate of increase was more than double what Oregon reported earlier in the week for its wolf population in 2020.Read More

States Look To Ramp Up Wolf Kills Following Previous Administration’s Move To Ease Protections

By NWPB News March 8, 2021

The timing of the Wisconsin hunt was bumped up following a lawsuit that raised concerns President Joe Biden’s administration would intervene to restore gray wolf protections. The group behind the suit has close links to Republican political circles including influential donors the Koch brothers and notable Trump loyalists — Kris Kobach, a former U.S. Senate candidate from Read More

In Historic Move, Colorado Voters Decide To Reintroduce Gray Wolves

By NPR News November 6, 2020

A gray wolf - wolves in Colorado - AP PHOTO

The move challenges a long tradition of leaving wildlife management to governments, not the public. But the vote was narrow, reflecting many people's serious concerns about bringing wolves back.Read More

Dams, Salmon, Wolves: How Key Issues Played Out In Eastern Washington Congressional Races

By Courtney Flatt November 3, 2020

Elliott Moffett, a member of the Nez Perce Indian tribe, holds a sign that reads Free The Snake as he takes part in a rally organized by a coalition of environmental and tribal groups to promote the breaching of dams on the Snake River and other measures intended to benefit salmon and orcas. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

The campaigning is done. Now what's left is the counting. Here is how candidates in Washington’s 4th and 5th Congressional districts have talked about key environmental and natural resource issues during the campaign.Read More

Wolves Will Lose Federal Protections In The Northwest, Conservation Groups Vow A Fight

By Courtney Flatt October 29, 2020

A wolf from the Snake River Pack passes by a remote camera in eastern Wallowa County, Ore. A wolf advocate group in Colorado is challenging the model for U.S. wildlife management. CREDIT: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP

The federal government says it will remove endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48. The move will reduce protections for the predators in the western two-thirds of Washington and Oregon. Read More

State Wildlife Agency Kills Final Two Wolves In Northeastern Washington Wedge Pack

By NWPB News August 17, 2020

Most of the wolves in Washington are in the northeastern part of the state. A bill by Republican state Rep. Joel Kretz proposes a wolf sanctuary on Bainbridge Island. CREDIT: WASHINGTON DEPT. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

Washington state has killed the last two known wolves in the so-called Wedge pack in Stevens County, which had been preying on livestock, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said Monday.Read More

Wildlife Managers Will Kill More Wolves In Northeastern Washington After Livestock Killings

By NWPB News August 11, 2020

The state of Washington on Tuesday ordered that more endangered wolves be killed in a pack that continued to prey on cattle in Stevens County even after one member was eliminated. The decision was criticized by conservation groups who want the state to stop killing wolves. The state has killed more than 30 wolves since 2012.Read More

Washington State Commission Rejects Petition To Limit Killing Of Wolves

By NWPB News June 26, 2020

Wolves on a trail camera near Republic, Wash., in Ferry County. Courtesy of University of Washington

A petition that called for new rules to limit when the state can kill endangered wolves that prey on livestock was rejected by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.Read More

‘Fatal Attraction’: Seen On Movie Screens … And In Northwest Carnivores, Study Shows

By Courtney Flatt March 30, 2020

Even though large predators sometimes leave food that smaller predators scavenge, turns out, it’s actually dangerous for smaller animals to eat the leftovers. Read More

Colorado Voters Are Set To Decide If Wolves Should Be Reintroduced To The State

By NPR News February 11, 2020

In November, Coloradans are set to vote on whether to return wolves to the state. The ballot initiative may be the first time voters in any state could force reintroduction of an endangered species.Read More

Jay Inslee Calls On State Wildlife Agency To ‘Significantly Reduce’ Lethal Wolf Actions

By Courtney Flatt October 1, 2019

In a letter to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind, Inslee asked that the state increase efforts to change guidelines that dictate when a wolf can be lethally removed.Read More

Washington Wildlife Officials Cancel Public Meetings On Wolves Under Threats Of Violence

By Courtney Flatt August 29, 2019

Threats of violence have caused Washington officials to cancel a series of in-person informational wolf management meetings. In a news release, state Fish and Wildlife director Kelly Susewind said the tensions this summer were “on both sides of the issue.”Read More

Four Wolves Killed In Northeastern Washington Hours Before Court Hearing To Decide Their Fate

By Eilís O'Neill August 17, 2019

King County Superior Court judge ordered state officials on Friday morning to temporarily stop killing members of a wolf pack in the Colville National Forest, in northeastern Washington — but their fate had already been decided.Read More

Lawsuit Seeks To Block Washington State From Killing Wolves

By NWPB News August 2, 2019

A lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to prevent the state of Washington from killing more wolves from a pack that is preying on cattle. The Maryland-based Center for a Humane Economy filed the suit in King County Superior Court, contending too many wolves have been killed as a way to protect livestock at a single ranch in the Kettle River Range in Ferry County.Read More

Oregon Approves New Plan For Managing Gray Wolves

By Tony Schick June 9, 2019

This Feb. 2017, file photo provided by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shows a gray wolf of the Wenaha Pack captured on a remote camera on U.S. Forest Service land in Oregon's northern Wallowa County. CREDIT: OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE/AP

Oregon fish and wildlife commissioners approved a new management plan Friday for gray wolves, a long-awaited document that sets protocols for potential hunts and new thresholds for when the agency may kill wolves after attacks on cattle and sheep.Read More

Washington Wildlife Head Supports Ending Federal Wolf Protections In Entire State

By NWPB News May 9, 2019

Wolves should be removed from the federal endangered species list throughout Washington state, Washington Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind wrote in a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released this week.Read More

Western Washington Has A New Wolf Pack, First In Decades

By Courtney Flatt April 6, 2019

A trail camera captures one of the Diobsud Creek wolf pack. The two wolves are the first pack in Western Washington in decades. Courtesy Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

There’s a new wolf pack on the western side of Washington’s Cascade Mountains. Wildlife officials say it’s the first time they’ve documented a pack there since wolves were wiped out decades ago.Read More

The Way Deer Escape Wolves Could Change How Hunters Hunt

By Courtney Flatt March 3, 2019

Mule deer taken from a trail camera near Republic, Washington. As wolves return to Washington state, deer have taken notice. Researchers found deer change how they react when wolves are near – and that could eventually change how hunters hunt. Courtesy of the University of Washington

As wolves return to the Northwest, deer have taken notice. Researchers found deer in Washington change how they react when wolves are near – and that could eventually change how hunters hunt.Read More

Washington’s Wolf Population Likely Larger Than Estimated, Researcher Says

By NWPB News February 5, 2019

The breeding female of the Walla Walla Pack in northern Oregon's Umatilla County. A University of Washington researcher says the number of wolves in adjacent Washington state is likely much higher than estimates. CREDIT: OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE/AP

The number of wolves in Washington state is likely much higher than previously thought, according to a University of Washington researcher who spent two years studying the animals using scat-sniffing dogs.Read More

Hungry Like The … Bainbridge Wolf? Bill Highlights Differing East/West Views On Washington Wolves

By Emily Schwing January 30, 2019

A bill in the Washington state House of Representatives would create a wolf sanctuary on Bainbridge Island. And while the bill’s sponsor, Republican Joel Kretz, knows it’s unlikely to even get a hearing, he said he introduced it to make a point.Read More

Environmental Groups Withdraw From Negotiations To Update Oregon Wolf Management Plan

By Tony Schick January 7, 2019

A photo of a male wolf from the Sherman Pack captured by a camera trap. CREDIT: CONSERVATION NORTHWEST

Environmental groups have withdrawn from an effort to update Oregon’s plan for managing gray wolves days before a final meeting of stakeholders, throwing the future of negotiations over wolf management and protections into question.Read More

Here A Wolf, There A Wolf, Everywhere A Wolf, Wolf. Public Sightings Abound In The Region

By Tom Banse December 4, 2018

Two wolves from the newly discovered Middle Fork Pack on U.S. Forest Service land in the Imnaha WMU in Wallowa County in December 2017. CREDIT: ODWF 2017

An online map of wolf sightings from the public includes unconfirmed reports of wandering wolves from the Idaho border to the Pacific beaches, not to mention inside major cities such as Seattle and Tacoma.Read More

Conservationists Worry As U.S. House Votes To End Wolf Protections, Senate to Consider

By Courtney Flatt November 16, 2018

The U.S. House passed a bill Friday that would end federal protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48 states. For wolves in the Northwest, that would mean protections fall to state agencies. Read More

More Wolf Kills Authorized By Wildlife Managers In Northeastern Washington

By Courtney Flatt November 8, 2018

This Togo pack wolf, an adult male shown when he was radio-collared in early June, is now marked for death by Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife. CREDIT: WDFW

Washington officials have authorized the killing of wolves in two more of the state’s packs. Conservationists oppose the move. They say it could only worsen wolf-livestock conflicts. The order comes after wildlife officials confirmed wolves preyed on four cows in one attack and six in another this past fall.Read More

Judge Says Washington Wildlife Agency Can Kill Togo Pack Wolf For Cattle Hunting

By Tom Banse September 1, 2018

Washington government marksmen now have clearance to go out this weekend to shoot a wolf from a pack that has been preying on cattle in the Colville National Forest. On Friday a judge declined to extend a temporary stay on the killing won by several environmental groups last week.Read More

Washington Salmon Researcher Safe After Wolf Encounter

By Courtney Flatt July 13, 2018

A gray wolf. A salmon researcher had to escape two wolves by climbing a tree. CREDIT: FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS, USFWS - PACIFIC REGION

Thanks to quick thinking, a tree and a helicopter, a salmon researcher in Washington was able to evade two wolves she couldn’t scare off.Read More

Today’s Northwest Wolves Have Roots In Coastal Rainforests And Rocky Mountains

By Courtney Flatt June 18, 2018

A wolf of the Wenaha Pack captured ona remote camera on U.S. Forest Service land in northern Wallowa County. CREDIT: OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

New genetic research on the Northwest’s wolves finds they descended from a mix of two different types — some from the northern Rocky Mountains and some from coastal rain forests. That means the packs that form in our region have more genetic diversity — a key to survival.Read More

Gray Wolves Could Lose Protections As ‘Endangered’ Status Reconsidered

By Jes Burns June 15, 2018

The federal government is reviewing the endangered species status of gray wolves in the Lower 48 states — a move that could lead to reduced protections. This includes the western parts of Oregon and Washington, where wolves are considered endangered under U.S. law.Read More

Study: Olympic National Park Among Best Places To Bring Back Gray Wolves

By Courtney Flatt March 19, 2018

One of the most ideal places in the world to bring back gray wolves is right here in the Northwest, according to a new study. Researchers have found bringing the large carnivores back to the Olympic National Park could greatly help the ecosystem — and the predators.Read More

As One Washington Wolf Poaching Case Comes To A Close, Others Remain A Mystery

By Emily Schwing February 6, 2018

Last month, a Washington resident was fined more than $8,000 for poaching three wolves in 2016. DNA evidence linked him to three separate kills, but other poaching cases remain unsolved. Read More

Killing Wolves Might Protect One Farm’s Livestock At Expense Of Others

By Tony Schick January 12, 2018

A new study claims government killing of wolves can increase the risk to nearby farms, providing further evidence for the ineffectiveness of the so-called “lethal control” policy approach. The report also casts doubt on an earlier research paper, which government agencies often use to support the practice.Read More