A count by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game show that Idaho’s wolf numbers remained largely unchanged from 2008 to 2009.
Wildlife biologists with the department estimated a minimum of 843 wolves lived in Idaho in 2009. That compares to the estimate of a minimum of 856 wolves in 2008.
Idaho has 94 documented wolf packs between the Canadian border south to Interstate 84. Another 20 packs roam across territories that straddle boundaries with Washington, Montana and Wyoming.
Biologists say 65 packs in Idaho produced about 204 pups last year, and there were 275 confirmed wolf deaths in 2009. That includes 135 wolves killed by hunters, 94 killed because they preyed on livestock and 48 deaths from poaching, other human causes or unknown causes. (AP)
