Current numbers: 4
Pack status: Active. Designated in 2023.
The Couse wolf pack was confirmed as a pack in Asotin County in 2023. In late January 2023, WA139F, a collared yearling female from the Tucannon pack, dispersed with other members of the Tucannon pack and formed the Couse pack. Formerly considered the WA139 Group, the pack had a minimum count of five wolves and was considered a successful breeding pair.
In 2023, two Couse Pack wolves, an adult male and a yearling female, were killed by the Department in response to livestock predation.
In 2024, one wolf from the Couse pack was killed by landowners protecting livestock under the “caught-in-the-act” rule. Prior to that incident, staff believed the Couse pack to be made up of two to three adult wolves and an unknown number of pups. A minimum of four wolves and no successful breeding pair were documented in the pack at the end of the year.
On October 2, 2024, WDFW staff captured and collared a female wolf pup. On November 17, WDFW staff received a mortality signal from the recently collared wolf pup. After multiple attempts to investigate the mortality failed due to heavy snow and bad weather, WDFW staff retrieved the carcass on November 25. It was determined that the wolf had died from swallowing a livestock ear tag that perforated her small intestine.
