From Washington To You
Gray wolves photographed in Yellowstone National Park, used here as a species photograph.
Photograph by Doug Smith, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park. This is a Yellowstone species photo, not a Washington pack. Public domain.

From Washington to you

Gray Wolves in Washington

Northeastern Washington · Ferry County · listed endangered at species level in 1978

USFWS treats the gray wolf as a recovered species in much of the West, after listing it as endangered across the contiguous United States in 1978.

Gray wolves, Canis lupus, are the largest wild members of the dog family. USFWS says adults range from 18 to 80 kilograms (40 to 175 pounds). The species has a circumpolar range. In North America wolves primarily hunt medium and large hooved mammals.

USFWS listed gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act as subspecies or regional populations, then in 1978 reclassified the species as endangered throughout the contiguous United States and Mexico, except Minnesota, which was classified as threatened. The Northern Rocky Mountains population was delisted due to recovery in 2011, except Wyoming, delisted in 2017. Remaining wolf populations in the contiguous United States were delisted due to recovery in 2021.

In February 2024, USFWS found that listing the gray wolf in the Western United States was not warranted. This card uses only that federal legal record. The photograph is a Yellowstone National Park species photo, not a picture of a Washington pack.

  • Wildlife & Ecology

Sources (2)

Last reviewed: September 20, 2026

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