Researchers from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife counted 124 wolves in the state in 2017, including two in Wasco County, the agency announced Thursday.

Oregon’s 2017 Annual Wolf Report, released Thursday by the agency, documented an 11 percent increase over the prior year’s total. The report notes that the number is based on wolves verified by sight, tracks or remote camera photographs, and is considered the minimum wolf population, rather than an estimate of the total number of wolves in Oregon.

While the wolves are primarily concentrated in Northeastern and Southern Oregon, the report notes that two wolves were spotted in Wasco County near the end of 2017, marking the first time gray wolves have been documented using the northern Cascade Mountains as their territory since the species returned to Oregon during the early 2000s. The pair, spotted in the White River Wildlife Area, is now known as the White River Wolves.

Additionally, the agency confirmed 17 livestock kills by wolves in 2017, down from 24 kills the year before. Four wolves were killed illegally in 2017, according to the report. Five wolves were killed after being linked to chronically killing livestock, according to state wildlife biologists. Earlier this week, the agency issued a permit to kill two additional wolves in Eastern Oregon.