Current numbers: 6
Pack status: Active. Designated in 2021.
The Columbia wolf pack was confirmed as a pack in 2021 in Columbia County, north of the Touchet pack. WDFW staff documented a single wolf using private grazing land in late May and throughout June. In mid-July, WDFW staff began documenting frequent use of the area by multiple wolves. After trail camera and track monitoring, they initiated a trapping effort in the area. A WDFW wolf biologist captured and collared two adult wolves in this area in August. During the trapping session, the presence of wolf pups within the grazing area was documented.
At this time, the pack size was estimated to be nine, with at least five adult wolves and four pups. However, four wolves in the pack were killed the same year, leaving only five. Two were killed by cars in fall and winter (both yearling females), while one was killed by the agency (an adult male) and one by a landowner (a juvenile male) in response to livestock predation.
In 2022, only two wolves were documented in the Columbia pack. WA123F, a female from the Columbia pack territory, dispersed in January 2022 and joined up with another wolf in Morrow County in north central Oregon in March 2022.
In 2023, three wolves were documented in the pack, and it was not considered a successful breeding pair. In May 2023, a female wolf and WA157M, a 3-year-old male, were collared in the Columbia pack territory. WA157M dispersed to the Tucannon pack territory during the summer and the collar stopped transmitting location data.
In 2024, the pack had eight wolves, including a successful breeding pair. On January 13, 2025, WDFW staff killed a yearling female and an adult male in response to repeated livestock predation. In the same month, a Columbia Pack wolf was collared.
