MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) _ Officials say state and federal wildlife agencies trapped, collared and released what is believed to be an adult male gray wolf east of Burlington near Marblemount.



The Skagit Valley Herald reported Wednesday (https://goo.gl/huvBfK ) agencies trapped the wolf last week after reports of wolf tracks, howling and chickens attacked.



State Department of Fish & Wildlife spokesman Craig Bartlett says it's the first time a gray wolf has been caught and fitted with a GPS collar in Western Washington.



Bartlett says the clearest previous indication of wolves moving west of the Cascades was in April 2015 when a wolf was hit by a vehicle and died on Interstate 90.



The gray wolf population has grown in Eastern Washington in the past decade, but there are no known packs _ groups of two or more animals _ in Western Washington.