Numbers of wolves increase again

Federal officials say a record 1,645 gray wolves counted in the Northern Rockies this winter shows the predators' population remains strong but is no longer expanding as rapidly as in past years. Since their reintroduction to the region in the mid-1990s, wolf numbers had previously grown on average by 24 percent annually in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. This year's figure is up only 8 percent, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Ed Bangs. Bangs said the slowdown - combined with increasing numbers of livestock killed by the animals - signals that wolves have filled most prime habitat in the three states. "The population is getting to about as many as you're going to have," he said. "There's a big, healthy population in the Northern Rocky Mountains," he said. "At some point, the suitable habitat will be filled with wolves and the population just won't grow any more." The government's annual winter wolf count found 497 of the predators in Montana, 302 in Wyoming and 846 in Idaho. Livestock kills by wolves spiked more than 40 percent, with 601 cattle, sheep, llamas, dogs and other domestic animals killed. In response government wildlife agents and ranchers killed 264 wolves last year, or about one of every six wolves in the entire population. That included 21 entire packs...Billings Gazette