Oregon’s wolf population grew by 15 percent from 2023 to 2024, with an estimated population of at least 204 animals.
The 2024 Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Annual Report documents 25 packs with 17 of those meeting the criteria as breeding pairs. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also identified 18 groups of two or three wolves that did not meet the definition of a pack. Wolves continued to expand westward in Oregon with five new packs in the West Wolf Management Zone.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) compensation program awarded grants totaling $789,565 to 13 counties in 2024, up from $477,661 one year earlier. Sixty-one percent of the funds were for nonlethal preventative measures to reduce depredation. However, ODA granted all requests for compensation of confirmed and probable depredations in full.
Authorities removed 11 wolves because of chronic depredation in the East Wolf Management Zone in 2024. Livestock producers also lawfully killed three wolves caught in the act of attacking their livestock.
(Photo credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife)