![]() ![]() ![]() Twenty-two packs were counted this year a pack is 4 or more wolves that are traveling together. The count only represents known numbers of wolves, and the actual number is assumed to be higher since not every wolf can be located and counted. Annual counts are based on many data points like visual sightings, tracks, images captured on remote cameras, etc. ![]() This is a 9.5% increase from the previous year’s count. Oregon state wildlife biologists counted 173 wolves this past winter. He was the first wolf in western Oregon since 1947 and became the first wolf known to enter California in over 100 years. He traveled thousands of miles in the process, looking for more wolves (of course, there were none to find in Western Oregon or California at the time). Perhaps the most famous of the wolves that moved into Oregon was OR7. Still, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stripped their protected status despite scientific evidence to the contrary––no surprises there. The wolves persevered, and by 2015, there were about 78 known individuals in the state. The usual cadre of anti-wolf politicians and ranchers, as well as the indiscriminate killing in neighboring states, were significant obstacles to any recovery, with the end goal being total eradication. ![]() In 2011, federal protections were lost, and Oregon killed a couple more wolves and issued permits to landowners to take care of the rest. Twenty-six confirmed wolves dwindled to 17 and then 14. The next several years brought more killings, some by poachers and some by the state. One had fallen victim to a car, and the other illegally killed by a poacher’s gun.Ģ006 brought several more sightings, and the presence of pups meant wolves were now officially established in Oregon for the first time in 60 years. There was a sighting in 1999, and this wolf was quickly captured near the middle fork of the John Day River and returned to Idaho. Over 50 years later, wolves began to move back into the state from Idaho. The last bounty was paid in 1947, and wolves were officially gone from Oregon. One hundred years prior, in 1843, the first Wolf bounty was established⸺$5 from the State and $20 from the Oregon State Game Commission. We offer them in five different sizes, as they are so far north and so difficult to get close to many of our art buyers jumped on the opportunity of ordering an image online via our website or in person at the EXHIBITION.Back in the “smoke means progress” era of the 1940s, wolves were fully eradicated in Oregon. For our exhibition, we printed 4 feet by 6 feet images that brought them back to life. Since I was lucky enough to photograph the white wolf also known as Canis lupus arctos at such a close distance I am able to print really large size prints. I got my 7 minutes with them and then just as they appeared, they walked away over the mountain. They walked towards us without a fear and came as close as 10 feet from us. They were smaller than the gray wolf, but they are still pretty large in size. To my pleasant surprise, it was a pack of 8 snow wolves. After riding for one hour Raymond stopped, he looked at me and smiled I could not see any wolves but I immediately realized Raymond had spotted an arctic wolf. Raymond’s (my tracker) house was 8 hrs away from our location, heartbroken we left for civilization. For days nothing happened the arctic wolf did not show, I was disappointed and more so I just didn’t have the strength to keep going mentally and physically we packed up all our equipment and decided to leave. What was I thinking why did I decide to take arctic wolf pictures why did I go after the polar wolf? I kept asking this question when I was in a tent waiting for days for the wolf to appear. I had never seen anything like this or felt so helpless to the environment. All my research knowledge went out the door when I had to face temperatures as low as -56º f. It was a long journey all the way from New York to GRISE FIORD, it took four flights and three and a half days to get to my tracker Raymond, then another 8 to 9 hours on a snowmobile ride to get close to the majestic white arctic wolf - or so we thought. I researched all the facts from arctic wolf habitat, arctic wolf diet, arctic wolf weight, arctic wolf population, arctic wolf behavior everything I could put my hands on about ARCTIC WOLVES. Not knowing the challenges this kind of photography endeavor would demand, I made up my mind to take pictures of the tundra wolf. My quest to photograph the snow wolf started when I was looking up animals living in extreme weather conditions. ![]()
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