Current numbers: 6
Pack status: Active. Designated in 2015.
The Stranger Pack formed in 2015.
At the end of 2016, the pack had a minimum of four members, but was not counted as a breeding pair for the year. The pack had a minimum of three members at the end of 2017, and was not counted as a breeding pair.
The Stranger Pack had a minimum count of four wolves at the end of 2018 and was counted as a breeding pair for the year.
In April 2019, a collared adult male pack member was killed in a legal hunt on the Spokane Indian Reservation. In May 2019, wolf biologists collared a yearling female. In the same month, another female wolf who was likely a member of the pack was shot and killed by hikers who felt threatened when she emerged from the forest along the trail. The state wildlife agency investigated and determined the hikers were legally within their rights to use lethal force.
In November 2019, a collared female wolf (WA91F) from the pack dispersed toward Spokane, WA, and then into Idaho. She was killed the following month as part of Idaho’s legal wolf hunting season. Another member of the pack was killed “in the act” by a WA landowner who believed she presented a threat to human safety. This is legal under Washington’s “caught-in-the-act” rules for wolves.
The 2020 annual survey counted a minimum of five wolves in this pack and a successful breeding pair.
In 2021, there were four wolves confirmed in the pack. One was WA102M, a collared male wolf from the Teanaway Pack who dispersed to the Naneum pack territory in March 2020. In November 2021, he dispersed again, traveling over 190 miles in 14 days before joining the Stranger Pack.
Six wolves were confirmed in the Stranger Pack in 2022, with one natural death and one wolf killed by a landowner under the “caught-in-the-act” rule.
Three wolves were confirmed in 2023, with one wolf killed by humans. In January 2023, one wolf from this pack was captured and collared by WDFW staff.
In 2024, a minimum of six wolves were confirmed in the pack, and they were considered a successful breeding pair. In June, two wolves from this pack were captured and collared by WDFW staff. One wolf was killed by humans.
In January 2025, one Stranger Pack wolf was captured and collared.
Useful Links
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife – Stranger Pack
