The gray wolf was once very abundant in the wildlands of Oregon, dispersed amongst most of the state. In the 1940s however, a government bounty program was issued as an attempt to eradicate wolves in order to protect its citizens and very profitable livestock populations(From Exterminated to a Rebounding Population: A Brief History of Wolves in Oregon, 2015). The last confirmed wolf in the state of Oregon was assumed to be killed in 1947. Nearly 50 years later, the first wolf returned to Oregon in 1999 but was sequentially returned to Idaho since local wildlife managers did not know how to handle the animal. In 2005, a recovery plan was made. Oregon’s wolf population has grown from 18 packs to 22 packs in the past year with an annual growth rate of 15% (Center for Biological Diversity, 2020). As of 2019, there are 158 animals within those 22 packs. The annual growth rate of wolves in Oregon for the past three years has been steady around 10% (Center for Biological Diversity, 2020). Oregon’s wolves mostly reside in Douglas and Lane county, leaving the majority of Oregon mostly open. In 2015, wolves were delisted from the Endangered Species list but are still protected by the Oregon Wolf Plan and the Federal Endangered Species Act (Oregon at a Glance, 2020).
