The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to address a wolf problem in the southeast corner of the state. Back on September 24th, WDFW Director Kelly Susewind authorized the lethal removal of one adult wolf from the Couse pack. The order was issued following repeated depredations of cattle in Asotin County. WDFW has documented five depredation events in the Couse pack territory including one dead calf, confirmed injuries on a cow and two calves, along with probable injuries on another cow within a 10-month rolling window of time.
As of Tuesday, October 8th, WDFW had not removed a wolf from this pack territory despite concerted effort. The lethal removal authorization expired on October 8th and now WDFW is evaluating this pack’s behavior. There have been no documented depredations in this pack territory since September 19th.
The Couse wolf pack was confirmed as a pack in 2023. According to the 2023 annual population survey, the pack had a minimum count of five wolves and was considered a successful breeding pair in 2023.
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