Oregon Wolf Report 2021

The state of Oregon is now fully responsible for wolves living in the state since the US Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the species in the western half of the state in January. Wolves have been off the endangered list in the eastern half since 2011. The state has established a wolf plan with reproductive goals for two areas established under the plan [see map]. Wolves in the western zone receive more protection since wolves have not established four breeding pairs for three years. A breeding pair is defined as a male and female who produce at least two pups that survive to the end of the year. Currently there is only one (1) such breeding pair in the entire western two-thirds of the state. In the more rural east, the situation is more encouraging for wolves were seven breeding pairs are documented, exceeding the plan goal for the area. Unfortunately wolves living in this zone receive less protection under the state plan They can be killed if they are determined to be preying on livestock.

Oregon reports a direct count of wolves in the state each year. The minimum number of wolves living in Oregon during last year is 173, an increase of 9.5% over the previous year. The number represents 17 packs containing a successful breeding pair. Most of these packs live in the northeast corner of the state, a region of mountains and forested upland, most of which is under federal jurisdiction. Only four packs are known to inhabit the area west of Hwy 395, which more or less bisects the state. Seven human caused death were reported by the Fish & Wildlife Department. One of these was pursuant to lethal removal: a rancher shot and killed a yearling wolf from the Middle Folk Pack that was chasing livestock. Under Oregon rules a wolf caught in the act of preying on livestock may be shot without a permit, but non-lethal control options remain a priority. This rancher had previously hazed wolves interested in his cattle and had lost two calves in preceding days.

During 2020 the Department investigated four packs accused of chronic depredation, the Rogue Pack in Klamath County (Western Zone) being the most active, but decided not to authorize lethal removal. Chronic depredation is defined as three or more confirmed attacks within nine months. ODFW authorized entire pack removals in 2009 and 2016 and incremental lethal removals in 2011, 2017, 2018 in the Eastern Zone, which has led to a small, steady rate of confirmed depredation events there despite a marked increase in wolf numbers. The agency conducted overnight hazing operations in the Wood River valley of Klamath County for four months with mixed results. The Oregon Department of Agriculture disbursed $251,529 in block grants to twelve counties requesting assistance with wolf management. Of that amount $30,600 was paid directly to livestock owners for dead, injured and lost livestock considered due to wolf predation. The gray wolf is “an integral component of the ecosystems to which it typically belongs”, according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

AP: a member of the Snake River Pack in 2014