SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Washington wildlife officials are scouting for what could be the state’s third breeding wolf pack.
The Spokesman-Review says an agency wolf specialist recently trapped and radio-collared a 50-pound young wolf in Pend Oreille County near the Canada border. Now officials are going to follow the animal to see if it came from a den in British Columbia or Washington.
A breeding pack was confirmed farther south in Pend Oreille County last year.
The number of confirmed breeding packs in the state eventually could change the wolf’s endangered species status. A state wolf management plan is expected to be released this winter.
Washington’s first documented wolf pack since the 1920s was found in 2008 in western Okanogan County.