WOLF RECOVERY FACTS

• Wolf reintroduction in the northern Rocky Mountains began in 1995 when 14 wolves were captured in the mountains of western Alberta and brought to Yellowstone National Park. An additional 15 wolves were captured in Canada and released in central Idaho.  
• The reintroduction was a huge success and by 2002, the population recovery goals had been exceeded.
• In 2008, there are now an estimated 1,500 wolves roaming the Northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. This is five times the original recovery goal.
• The regional wolf population increases at an average rate of 24 percent every year. The population in Wyoming outside of Yellowstone National Park has increased faster - on average 32 percent a year.

WYOMING FACTS

• Wyoming is home to about 350 wolves.
• 90 percent of the state’s wolves live in the northwestern portion of the state. Inside Yellowstone National Park, wolves retain protected status. Outside the park, in the trophy game zone, there will be limited, controlled hunting of wolves.
• The other ten percent of Wyoming's wolves live in an area where they are not protected. However, this is terrain where there are very few wolves and many people.
• In developing its wolf management plan, the state worked directly with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, conservation groups and the public to develop plan that ensures a healthy wolf population and an appropriate boundary for the trophy game and predator zones.
• Last year across the region, the Wildlife Services division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service killed almost 200 wolves in response to livestock depradation and other conflicts. So far this year, 16 wolves have been killed in Wyoming.
• Recent research shows that on average, each wolf eats about 22 wild ungulates each year, 90 percent of which are elk. Wolves have also killed as many as 135 cattle and 98 domestic sheep in a single year in Wyoming.