Current numbers: 4
Pack status: Active. Designated in 2012.
The Minam Pack was discovered by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife wolf program staff within the Eagle Cap Wilderness in NE Oregon on August 25, 2012, when a pair of gray-colored adult wolves with five gray pups was observed in the Upper Minam River drainage. ODFW had received irregular wolf reports in the general area over the past several years.
The pack was observed to have new pups each year throughout 2013, 2014, and 2015. In May 2015, the tracking collar on OR20 (the breeding female) failed, and another female, OR27, dispersed in late August. OR27 went on to pair up with OR24 from the Snake River Pack, and they have formed the Catherine Pack together.
In 2016, 2017, and 2018, the pair produced at least three, five, and two pups, respectively, that survived to the end of the year.
In 2019, the pack raised at least two pups that were counted in the annual survey.
In 2020, no reproduction was documented, and no Minam wolves were documented in the pack area at the end of the year, so the pack temporarily lost pack status.
In 2021, they were reinstated as a pack because a new Minam pair produced at least two pups that survived to the end of the year. They were counted as a successful breeding pair, and four wolves were documented in the area during the winter count.
In late fall 2022, four Minam wolves were documented, including one pup. However, no wolves could be found during the winter count, so they temporarily lost pack status again. It was expected that wolves still occupied the area.
In 2023, the Minam Pack was counted again in the winter survey. They produced four pups that survived until the end of the year and were counted as a breeding pair, with ten wolves in the pack.
The Minam Pack produced at least 2 pups during 2024. The pack was only located by tracks and howling during the winter count and was not documented as a breeding pair.
Photos
Useful Links
Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife – Minam Pack
