Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Updates for #Wolf Activity in Oregon

Wolves in Oregon
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Wolf Program Updates
 
January 13, 2015, New wolf activity in southwest Cascades

ODFW has documented new wolf activity in the southwest Keno Unit (in the southwest Cascades on a mixture of public and private lands).

Evidence of at least one wolf has been collected twice over the last month. This area is in a part of the state where wolves are protected by both the state and federal Endangered Species Act.
Repeated sign of a wolf requires that the agency designate an Area of Known Wolf Activity (AKWA), and ODFW will complete that next week.

The area this new wolf is using lies within the already established AKWA for the Rogue Pack (OR7), but data on OR7 and the Rogue Pack shows no use of this area recently. The Rogue Pack AKWA will soon be adjusted to reflect its current use area.

Little is known of this new wolf (e.g., sex, age, origin, other wolves) and efforts to gather additional data will be made by both ODFW and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

December 17, 2014, New Area of Known Wolf Activity – Desolation Unit

A new Area of Known Wolf Activity (AKWA) has been designated by ODFW in the northern portion of the Desolation Unit (Grant and Umatilla County). On December 15, 2014 tracks of two wolves were documented by ODFW biologists in this new area. Irregular reports of wolf activity have been received over the past year in this general area of National Forest, and biologists documented two instances of a single wolf earlier in the year. However, AKWAs are created where and when wolves have become established, meaning repeated use of an area over a period of time by wolves and not simply dispersal of wolves.

At this time, ODFW has little data regarding the specifics of this new pair (i.e., sex, breeding status, and specific use area) and additional surveys will be required to get this information.

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