Jul. 18—Idaho’s latest wolf estimate suggests the population increased slightly last year.
Matt Mumma, wildlife research manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, told the state Fish and Game Commission at its meeting in Coeur d’Alene on Thursday that his staff estimated there were 1,235 wolves in Idaho as of spring 2024. That’s an increase from the 2023 estimate of 1,150 but still below the 2019 count of about 1,500.
Idaho’s six-year wolf management plan calls for reducing the population to an average of 500. Mumma said despite the decline from 2019, numbers from the past three years aren’t far apart, suggesting the population is relatively stable.
He also said trapping closures prompted by a lawsuit over grizzly bear protections likely reduced wolf deaths this past year, and that he expects wolf numbers will climb.
“We do anticipate that it’s very likely that abundance will probably increase next year,” Mumma said.
It’s been 30 years since wolves were first reintroduced to central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. Since then, the canine predators have spread out and shown up in new areas — including Washington, where a pack was first confirmed in 2008.
Montana and Idaho have the bulk of the wolves in the U.S. portion of the northern Rockies. Montana’s most recent estimate indicated the state has about 1,091 wolves.
Methods for counting wolves have changed since the species was first reintroduced. Early on, counts depended solely on capturing and collaring wolves. As the population grew, biologists combined those methods with statistical modeling to estimate the number of wolves they weren’t able to physically see.
Trail cameras help. Idaho Fish and Game used a statewide array of remote cameras — about 700 of them — to get estimates from 2019 to 2023, according to Fish and Game documents. But with a decreasing wolf population, agency officials started to doubt that a camera-based approach would provide the most accurate estimate.
Starting in 2023, the agency shifted toward a new genetics and age-based method using data gathered from wolves killed by hunters and trappers.
Mumma explained the method to the Fish and Game Commission at its meeting in Coeur d’Alene on Thursday. He said it allows them to identify wolves that were part of the same sibling groups, and that they can get a good idea of how many litters of pups were produced. From there, they can estimate average litter size and the number of adult breeding pairs, and ultimately an overall number.
The numbers represent the size of the population in May — after the season when wolf pups are typically born. Camera-based estimates were typically gathered in August, meaning the older estimates were generally lower.
Because the estimate is based on data gathered during wolf hunting and trapping season, it lags behind by a year. A population estimate for 2025 won’t arrive until next year.
The genetic method is relatively new in the world of wolf science, and so far it’s unique to Idaho. Mumma said biologists recently submitted a paper on the genetic estimating method to a scientific journal, where it will be peer reviewed.
In Washington, biologists produce what’s called a “minimum count.” Subhadeep Bhattacharjee, the wolf and grizzly bear policy lead for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that’s a requirement of the state and federal protections for wolves in Washington. In the western two-thirds of the state, the wolves are listed endangered under federal and state law; in the eastern third, they’re only listed as endangered under state law.
Each winter, WDFW biologists go out and try to count as many wolves as they possibly can with the help of cameras, radio collars and physical sightings from helicopters.
In the spring, they release a year-end count that represents the number of wolves they were able to record. Their count for 2024 was 230 wolves across 43 packs.