BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on Thursday said there are an estimated 1,000 wolves in Idaho.

Ed Schriever told the House Resources and Conservation Committee that the estimate made public for the first time is the first wolf population estimate in Idaho since 2015.

“We will be making that estimate every year, and we will know from this point forward if the population is going up, as some people speculate, if it’s been level, or if it’s decreasing,” Shriever told lawmakers.

Shriever said the wolf population peaked early in the summer of 2019 at about 1,500 following the birth of pups. He said subtracting hunting and trapping kills along with other deaths puts the population now closer to 1,000.

After the meeting, Schriever said the estimate is based on about 13 million photos from…