Wildlife managers to use game cameras to count wolves

Idaho wildlife managers are hoping hundreds of hunter game cameras will help the state get an accurate count of wolves.

The Coeur d’Alene Press reports the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s current wolf population estimate comes from a computer model that extrapolates numbers based on data from 2009. That estimate puts the statewide number of wolves at 835, divided among 94 packs with 49 breeding pairs.

But for the past several years the department has been running a project that uses hunter game cameras to find animals of various species. This month the cameras were shifted to a 90-day effort to focus solely on wolves. The cameras are expected to collect millions of images, which will be analyzed using software to count the wolves.

The images will be collected in October and the department hopes to have the count completed early next year.