Officials: Success Catching and Radio-Collaring Wolves

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — State game managers say they have been successful catching and radio-collaring wolves this winter.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department says 34 wolves from 16 packs have been collared this winter, bringing the state total to 87, not counting those in Yellowstone National Park. An estimated 186 wolves roamed in Wyoming outside Yellowstone and the Wind River Indian Reservation at the beginning of 2013.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that because population estimates for 2014 are incomplete, it's difficult to know the percentage of Wyoming wolves wearing collars. Using last year's population of non-Yellowstone and non-reservation wolves — 187 animals — it would be 47 percent.

Protected by the Endangered Species Act in Wyoming as recently as 2012, wolves must be monitored because their numbers are few.