Oregon’s wolf population nearly doubled in 2012 to 53, according to the year-end count announced Wednesday by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,

That number is probably low and could change as state wildlife biologists gather more information about the animals, according to ODFW. All the known wolves in the state live in seven packs in the northeast corner of Oregon.

The survey identified at least five breeding pairs, said ODFW spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy. It was the first time Oregon had at least four breeding pairs for one year, a benchmark. According to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, four breeding pairs must successfully reproduce for three consecutive years before the state may consider de-listing them from protected status under state law.

That would mean greater latitude by the state to manage the animals by killing them, among other changes in their status, according to the plan.

While wolves are not officially known to be in Central Oregon, said Oregon wolf coordinator Russ Morgan, “I think they will be. They likely are now.”

He said ODFW already receives reports of wolf sightings from Central Oregon, but whether the animals have taken up residence or, like OR-7, the lone male wolf that made its way to California, are just passing through is unknown.

The Cascade mountains make ideal wolf habitat, according to studies.

“Wolves typically habituate forested habitats first. As far as movement, they can move through any kind of habitat barriers,” Morgan said.

Wolves in the northeastern packs will disperse through the Blue Mountains and into Central Oregon, but where and when they’ll take up residence is hard to gauge, he said.

Rob Klavins, spokesman for Oregon Wild, one of three conservation groups that took ODFW to court over its wolf-kill policy, said the increase in wolf numbers shows killing wolves isn’t necessary. Conservation groups lauded the increase in wolf numbers, as well as evidence of packs interbreeding and new wolf pups.

“In Oregon, we did things differently,” Klavins said. “Oregon showed killing wolves isn’t necessary.” He said plaintiffs in the case, filed in the Oregon Court of Appeals in October 2011, have been negotiating a resolution with the state, but he declined to discuss details. Morgan, likewise, said parties in the lawsuit over state authority to kill wolves engaged in mediation, but he, too, declined further comment.

Wolves have been quiet in northeastern Oregon since September, the last time they were deemed responsible for killing a livestock animal, Dennehy said. Morgan said that could be the result of changes in weather patterns and in the populations of elk and deer in the wolves’ range.