Wolf shot in Judith Gap traveled 700 miles from Washington state

A wolf shot near Judith Gap in central Montana spent the previous three months traveling about 700 miles, starting in western Washington, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks officials said Monday.

Federal Wildlife Services killed the 2-year-old male on Sept. 29 after it was found chasing and killing sheep.

It was wearing a collar that had been placed on the animal in February by Washington Fish and Wildlife biologists north of Spokane. Judith Gap is 109 miles southeast of Great Falls.

The wolf left its pack in June, traveled through western Washington, northern Idaho, into Canada and then dropped down in Montana, where it went down the Whitefish Range, over into the Apgar Range and down the Hungry Horse Reservoir.

“Dispersal is a necessary and a very risky component of wolf population dynamics,” Ty Smucker, FWP Region 4 wolf specialist said.

The wolf then went through the Bob Marshall Wilderness and out onto the Rocky Mountain Front and then the plains. It made most of the journey from mid-June to Mid-July. It found trouble in September.

“By late July it was on the Rocky Mountain Front and Washington Fish and Wildlife called to let me know,” Smucker said.

Smucker was notified of the animal’s location about once a week.

“The wolf came out on the Rocky Mountain Front just east of Bean Lake on July 22,” Smucker said. “Then it spent over a month and a half moving around the lower Dearborn River country, before heading toward Square Butte west of Great Falls on Sept. 13.”

From Square Butte, the wolf turned east, keeping to the north side of the Little Belt Mountains, emerging on the foothills of the Little Belts west of Judith Gap on Sept. 22, Smucker said.

Responding to a report of a wolf killing sheep, federal Wildlife Services killed the collared wolf Sept. 29 as it was leaving a band of sheep that it had been chasing and feeding on.

“It had to travel at least 700 miles total,” Smucker said.

The young wolf was probably looking for a mate, Smucker said.

“Wolf packs consist of breeding pairs that generally produce 4-6 pups each spring,” he said. “As young wolves mature they typically disperse from their natal pack in search of potential mates and vacant territories in which to start their own packs.”

Even if the wolf had run along Interstate 90, the animal still would have traveled more than 456 miles.

Sometimes that search can take the animal on a long journey. In 2015, a wolf left its pack’s territory west of Missoula and ended up 600 miles north in British Columbia.

While FWP occasionally receives reports of wolves in the Little Belt Mountains of central Montana, there are currently no known packs of wolves maintaining territories or producing pups in the area, Smucker said.

In addition, FWP does not capture and relocate problem wolves, he said.

Montana’s wolf population has stabilized for the past eight years at a minimum of more than 500.

“Public hunting and trapping of wolves helps manage wolf numbers in Montana,” Smucker said. “Overall, Montana’s wolf population appears to be doing quite well.”