A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) game warden confirmed a gray yearling female wolf was dead on Interstate 90 near Tarkio early Wednesday morning on May 1. “We usually get several reports every year on road-killed wolves on I-90,” Wolf Management Specialist Tyler Parks said.

He says although road-kill wolves aren’t uncommon, some reports end up being coyotes, domestic dogs or even deer misidentified as wolves. In 2017, FWP documented a total of 305 wolf mortalities with eight vehicle or train collision deaths. Wolf mortality was 6 percent lower in 2017 compared to a five-year average since 2012 due to lower levels of agency control. Fifty-seven wolves were removed in 2017 for livestock depredations, 42 were removed by WS and there were 15 legal kills by private citizens under the Defense of Property statute, a Montana state law.