Idaho’s wolf population has dropped to an estimated 1,129 animals, continuing a downward trend that state wildlife managers say is the direct result of deliberate policy choices made over the past several years.

The 2025 estimate reflects a decline of roughly 106 wolves from the previous year’s count of 1,235. The population has been falling steadily since 2020, when it stood at more than 1,650 animals statewide.

Cory Mosby of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game made clear that the trend is by design. “Our wolf population is decreasing statewide, and that is very much an intentional effort by the department,” he said. The department’s long-stated goal is to bring the population down to around 500 animals. “In our plan, our objective is to reduce the statewide wolf population to around 500 animals,” Mosby said.

Fish and Game attributes the decline primarily to expanded hunting and trapping opportunities that the Idaho Legislature and the Fish and Game Commission have authorized over the past five years. Livestock depredation by wolves has also been trending downward alongside the population reduction, which agricultural interests in the state have long sought.

Idaho’s relationship with wolves has been contentious for decades. The animals were largely driven to extinction in Idaho and across the U.S. Rocky Mountains by the 1930s. The federal government reversed that outcome by reintroducing Canadian wolves into Idaho and Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996. Idaho hunters and ranchers watched the population grow rapidly in the years that followed, and conflict over livestock losses and big game impacts became a persistent political flashpoint.

Wolves were removed from the federal Endangered Species List in Idaho in 2011, which allowed the state to open regulated hunting and trapping seasons. The population continued to grow for years despite those seasons, peaking above 1,650 animals in 2020. Legislative and regulatory action to expand those seasons has gradually reversed that growth.

One technical note affects how this year’s figures compare to earlier counts. Fish and Game changed its population estimation method beginning with the 2025 report. The new approach uses genetic data gathered from wolf teeth to calculate the estimate and produces a figure reflecting wolf numbers as of May of the prior year. The older method, which was used through 2023, relied on trail camera data and generated an estimate reflecting August population levels. The change means direct year-over-year comparisons should be interpreted with some caution, though the overall declining trend holds across both methodologies.

The state still has considerable ground to cover before reaching its 500-animal target. At the current pace of decline, reaching that level would take several more years of active management. Whether hunting and trapping pressure continues at the same level or is expanded further will depend on future decisions by the Legislature and the Fish and Game Commission.

For North Idaho in particular, wolf activity has long intersected with working farms and ranches across the region. As the state works to balance wildlife management with the interests of rural landowners, the declining livestock depredation numbers offer some encouragement to agricultural communities that have dealt with wolf predation for years. For more on how Idaho’s land-use landscape intersects with wildlife and conservation issues, see our earlier coverage of the Panhandle public lands proposal and how Idaho land trusts support working farms and recreation across the state.

The population estimate will continue to be updated annually as Fish and Game refines its genetic sampling approach and gathers new data through hunting seasons and field research.