From Oshkosh Northwestern:
Wisconsin had a minimum of 866 to 897 gray wolves in 222 packs in the winter of 2015-16, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Natural Resources.
The data were obtained in the annual winter wolf monitoring program conducted by DNR employees and volunteers. The work is done in winter, when the wolf population reaches an annual low and the animals are easiest to track and count.
The wolf population typically doubles in spring after pups are born, then declines through winter due to various sources of mortality.
The wolf is protected in Wisconsin under the Endangered Species Act since a Dec. 2014 federal court decision. Wisconsin held wolf hunting and trapping seasons in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
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