Population Decline Continues Amid Expanded Hunting and Trapping
Idaho’s wolf population dropped to approximately 1,129 animals in 2025, a decline of roughly 106 wolves from the prior year, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The 2024 population had been estimated at 1,235 wolves, continuing a downward trend that began around 2020, when the state’s wolf numbers exceeded 1,650.
The decrease reflects years of expanded hunting and trapping seasons authorized by state wildlife officials pursuing what they describe as a deliberate management strategy. Cory Mosby, a Fish and Game official, characterized the decline as intentional. “Our wolf population is decreasing statewide, and that is very much an intentional effort by the department,” Mosby said.
Idaho’s management target is substantially lower than current numbers. “In our plan, our objective is to reduce the statewide wolf population to around 500 animals. That’s like our ultimate marching orders goal,” Mosby explained. At the current rate of decline, reaching that target would require several additional years of ongoing management.
Decades of Wolf Management and Reintroduction
Wolves were reintroduced to Idaho and Yellowstone National Park during 1995 and 1996, with animals captured from Canada and released into the region. Their return marked a dramatic reversal of earlier policy: by the 1930s, wolves had been eliminated from Idaho and the U.S. Rocky Mountains through intensive removal efforts.
The species remained federally protected under the Endangered Species Act until 2011, when wolves were delisted in Idaho. Following that delisting decision, the Department of Fish and Game opened hunting and trapping seasons, setting the stage for the population management efforts now underway.
The state has progressively expanded hunting and trapping opportunities over the past five years as part of its strategy to reduce wolf numbers toward the 500-animal target.
Changes to Population Counting Methods
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game altered how it estimates wolf populations in recent years, shifting to a more precise methodology. The current approach uses genetic information extracted from the teeth of killed wolves to arrive at population figures, producing an estimate tied to May of the previous year.
The prior estimation method, used through 2023, relied on trail camera observations and produced population counts reflecting August conditions of the previous year. The methodological change means that 2025’s estimate of 1,129 wolves reflects the population condition as of May 2024, rather than a full-year average.
This transition to genetic-based estimation may provide more accuracy but also complicates direct year-to-year comparisons with historical data based on the older trail camera approach.
What Comes Next
Idaho’s wolf management framework appears set to continue its current trajectory. Hunting and trapping seasons remain open, and state officials have indicated no plans to reverse course toward higher population targets. The Department of Fish and Game will release updated population estimates as genetic data from harvested wolves accumulates, offering periodic snapshots of whether management efforts are on pace to reach the 500-animal objective.
Conservation groups and hunting interests continue to hold divergent views on appropriate wolf population levels, but state law and recent delisting decisions have placed population management authority firmly with the Department of Fish and Game and the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.
For context on how wildlife and natural resource management intersects with broader environmental conditions in Idaho, see the recent reporting on Army Corps cold-water releases from Dworshak Dam during summer heat and invasive brown trout discoveries in Bonner County waters.