Pack could be first since ’30s

OLYMPIA – Washington state wildlife biologists who conducted a “howling survey” believe a gray wolf pack may be living in western Okanogan County.

Biologists conducted the survey in the area July 7.

They made wolf-like howls in several areas, and heard both adult and juvenile howls in response.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife says that if confirmed, it would be Washington’s first known resident wolf pack since the species disappeared from the state in the 1930s. While individual wolves have been reported in Washington, resident wolf breeding pairs or packs have not.

State and federal biologists are now working on plans to collect DNA samples from some of the animals and equip some with radio collars.

The gray wolf is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in the western two-thirds of the state.