Current numbers: 3
Pack status: Active. Designated in 2012.
The Wedge Pack was confirmed in 2012. That same year, after a series of calf and sheep deaths, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) ultimately killed seven members of the Wedge Pack from a helicopter in an attempt to stop the escalating series of attacks.
While it was thought that the entire Wedge Pack was eliminated by WDFW, two wolves were recorded traveling as a pack in the same area in 2013. It is unknown whether these wolves were related to the original Wedge Pack wolves or if they had moved into the area from elsewhere.
In 2015, 2016, and 2017, three wolves were using the area but were not counted as a breeding pair.
At the end of 2018, the pack still had only three confirmed members and was not counted as a breeding pair.
State data shows one pack member was legally killed in 2019, presumably on the tribal lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, as no wolf hunting is allowed in Washington state. The 2019 annual survey counted three members remaining in the pack.
The 2020 annual survey counted a minimum of four wolves for this pack, but they were not considered to have a successful breeding pair.
Following a series of livestock predations in 2020, WDFW authorized lethal removal in the Leadpoint, Togo, and Wedge Packs. In total, three wolves (one female yearling, one adult male, and one adult female) were removed from the Wedge pack throughout the authorizing permit’s time frame.
In 2021, there were nine wolves confirmed in the Wedge Pack, with one wolf illegally killed. In 2022, six wolves were illegally killed in the Wedge Pack, leaving only two wolves remaining in the pack. Their killings were under investigation until the statute of limitations expired in 2023.
In 2023, two wolves were confirmed in the pack, and in 2024, three wolves were confirmed in the pack, but they were not considered a successful breeding pair.
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