New Wolf Pack Found In Western Oregon

The state of Oregon announced last week the newest wolf pack is the state has at least four pups.  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that a photo from a trail camera confirmed the pups' existence in western Oregon. Their fur gray with cream-colored streaks, three of them were photographed walking on an unpaved road with a larger wolf, with the fourth pup on the other side of the road and further back.

The existence of the pack was officially confirmed only early this year and then numbered three wolves.

The pups are growing fast. Officials with the federal and state wildlife departments placed a GPS collar on one of them, a 52-pound, 5-month-old female, on Sept. 26 in the Umpqua National Forest. The collar’s biodegradable foam spacer will continue allow the collar to fit as the wolf grows into an adult.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration proposed to take the wolf off the endangered species list. Wolves lost federal protection in eastern Oregon in 2011, though they still retain federal protection in the western two-thirds of the state.

If we want these wonderful animals to survive and flourish, we have to ensure the Trump administration doesn't take away their Endangered Species Act safeguards," Weiss said.

There are three packs in western Oregon. Most wolves in Oregon roam the eastern part of the state.  In April, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that Oregon was home to a record number of wolves, 20 years after the species returned to the state after being exterminated.  The number of known wolves in Oregon at the end of 2018 was 137, a 10% increase over the previous year.

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