Tests confirm fourth Washington wolf pack

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A new wolf pack in Kittitas County, the fourth in Washington, has been confirmed by DNA tests, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced July 5.

The Teanaway Pack was discovered by volunteers working for Conservation Northwest, a Seattle group that protects wildlife and habitat.

In late June, state Fish and Wildlife biologists caught, radio-collared and released an adult female wolf that was lactating, indicating she was nursing pups, the agency said in a news release. Tissue and hair samples were tested for DNA at the University of California-Davis and showed the wolf is a wild gray wolf, not a wolf-dog hybrid.

Madonna Luers, Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman in Spokane, said she does not know how close wolves are to TeanawayValley ranches.

"We don't give specific locations on den sites, which is what this is," she said.

The pack will be deemed a successful breeding pair if there is evidence two pups are still alive after Dec. 31, she said.

The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering adoption of a wolf management plan by year's end that would allow consideration of limited wolf hunting after 15 successful breeding pairs have been established for three years.

There are three breeding pair in the state counting the Teanaway Pack, Luers said.

The other two are the Diamond Pack, documented in 2009 in central Pend OreilleCounty in northeast Washington, and the Salmo Pack, documented in 2010, also in Pend OreilleCounty. The Salmo Pack ranges into British Columbia.

The Cutoff Peak Pack, in Idaho, ranges into Pend OreilleCounty.

The Lookout Pack, confirmed in Okanogan and Chelan counties in 2008, was Washington's first documented resident pack since the 1930s. The Lookout Pack has not been considered a breeding pair since its female disappeared from radio-collar telemetry last year while giving no mortality signal, Luers said.

There are reports only two wolves of the Lookout Pack remain, Conservation Northwest members said. A recent federal grand jury indicted three Washington residents on 12 counts of wildlife violations, including killing up to five endangered wolves from the Lookout Pack, conspiracy and various counts of smuggling hides and poached animal parts, Conservation Northwest said.

Before the Teanaway Pack was confirmed, Fish and Wildlife estimated a total of about 25 resident wolves in the state.

Biologist continue looking for more packs, primarily in the northeast and southeast corners of the state and the Hozomeen area near RossLake in the North Cascades, Luers said.

"The discovery of another resident wolf pack clearly indicates that wolves are returning to Washington state naturally," Phil Anderson, Fish and Wildlife director, said in a news release.

The growing number highlights the need to continue efforts to finalize the state's wolf conservation and management plan, he said. The gray wolf is protected throughout Washington as a state endangered species. In the western two-thirds of Washington, the species is also federally protected under the Endangered Species Act.