Current numbers: 5
Pack status: Active. Designated in 2013.
The Dirty Shirt Pack was formed by wolves that split off from the existing Smackout Pack in NE Washington in 2013.
In early 2017, an adult male and a female were collared. The male dispersed to the Salmo Pack territory and then up to British Columbia, where he was killed by wildlife managers protecting endangered caribou. The female dispersed to an area north of the Smackout Pack territory in May 2017.
The same year, a male wolf from the pack died. His death was under investigation until the statute of limitations expired. In July 2017, a wolf dispersed from the Dirty Shirt family and appeared to be establishing a new territory in northern Stevens County with a wolf from British Columbia.
In February 2018, state biologists collared one adult wolf from the pack. The family had only three wolves at the end of 2018 and did not have breeding pair status for 2018.
State wolf biologists collared an adult female wolf from the family in June 2019. In July 2019, a collared adult female wolf was killed, likely by a cougar. Another pack member was known to have been killed by a human, but no further information has been provided.
The pack had a minimum number of four wolves at the end of 2019 but was not considered a successful breeding pair for the year.
In 2020, one successful breeding pair was confirmed. In 2021, 5 wolves were confirmed in the pack. In 2022, the pack increased to nine wolves until the Department accidentally killed one Dirty Shirt Pack wolf pup in September while trying to kill a Lookout Pack wolf. At the end of the year, there were eight wolves counted in the pack.
WA147M, a yearling male from the pack, was collared in January 2023. During the summer, he dispersed to the reestablished Ruby Pack in Pend Oreille and Stevens Counties before dispersing again up to British Columbia. His transmission was lost in April of 2024. At the end of the year, there were nine wolves, including a successful breeding pair, confirmed in the Dirty Shirt Pack.
Between November and December of 2024, wolf 149M dispersed from the Carpenter Ridge territory to the Dirty Shirt territory. There were five wolves remaining in the pack at the end of the year, with one wolf killed by humans.
In January 2025, a wolf from this family was captured and collared. In June, another yearling female from this pack was collared. A collared wolf from this pack was found dead in early August, but likely died during the end of July. An investigation is ongoing by WDFW Enforcement.
