Wolves sighted near Malo
"It doesn't surprise anyone there are wolves in the Curlew area," [Department of Fish and Wildlife's Madonna Luers] said. "But confirming a pack or a breeding pair is another matter."
MALO - Residents have reported seeing several wolves in the Empire Creek Road area.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 18, Llois Copelan and Dennis Wuerth saw two wolves cross Kompan Road while a third veered north on the road and ran ahead of them for approximately 150 yards before turning off and rejoining the others, Copelan said.
Weurth said neighbors along Empire Creek and Kompan Roads have identified wolf activity for some time.
An acquaintance and two neighbors have observed a black wolf.
Copelan said she and Wuerth have seen animals in the neighborhood too big to be coyotes, but didn't consider they might be wolves. A photograph taken June 12 may be one of the same wolves. The photo was taken south of Franson Peak with a trail camera belonging to local property owner Randy Kuchenreuther, Copelan said.
However, the wolves sighted last week were much darker than the one in the photo, she said. This might be due to winter coats.
Madonna Luers, spokesman for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Spokane, said wildlife biologists will contact Copelan about the sighting.
"They do want to talk to her," Luers said.
"It doesn't surprise anyone there are wolves in the Curlew area," she said. "But confirming a pack or a breeding pair is another matter."
According to the state's recently adopted wolf management plan, there must be 15 confirmed breeding wolf pairs in the state before wolves are removed from the endangered species list.
Copelan said they lost a llama in September and attributed it to a cougar kill. Two other llamas didn't return from their summer pasture in October, and she is now wondering if they were taken by a pack of wolves.
We take these wolf sightings very seriously, Luers said. Most wolf confirmation work is done in the spring and summer, Lures said, when WDFW personnel can find wolves more easily. They also capture wolves and fit them with radio collars for monitoring.
The radio collars use Global Positioning Systems and Very High Frequency technology.
Luers said wildlife biologists were aware of a wolf sighting in the Empire Creek Road area last summer, but were interested to learn there had been multiple wolves seen.
An annual survey confirms 27 wolves including three breeding pairs in the state.
Wolf sightings should be reported to the WDFW cougars, bears and wolves hotline at 877-933-9847, Luers said.
