Wolves roaming over 2,700 square miles in northeast Washington would be shielded from lethal removal if a judge broadens an injunction against killing wolves in the Kettle River Range, according to Fish and Wildlife.

A motion filed in King County Superior Court by wolf advocates proposes to increase by sevenfold the territory covered by an order issued Friday by Judge John McHale. In a brief submitted Tuesday, Fish and Wildlife asked the judge to deny the motion.

Fish and Wildlife would be forced to call off killing the last two wolves in the Togo pack. At least three other packs would be off-limits to lethal control, according to the department.

The motion and Fish and Wildlife’s response stems from the department’s belated disclosure Friday evening that it had eliminated the entire OPT pack that morning.

In court that day, the department said there was one wolf left, and McHale prohibited the department from killing it. The department now says the wolf was a lone wolf and not part of the pack.

Wolf advocates have asked McHale to extend his order over the entire range to protect the wolf.

In new court documents, Fish and Wildlife says the wolf was photographed by itself once nearly two months ago, was never seen again or with the other wolves, and was probably just passing through.

Besides the Togo pack, the Sherman, Nc’icn and Frosty packs occupy the range.

The OPT pack had killed or injured at least 29 cattle since September, according to Fish and Wildlife. The department removed 10 wolves from the pack — two last fall and eight this summer.

Two King County residents, school teacher Genevieve Jaquez-Schumacher and retired construction manager John Huskinson, and Kettle Range Conservation Group director Tim Coleman sued Fish and Wildlife to stop the culling.

The OPT pack was preying on Diamond M ranch cattle in the Colville National Forest. The Togo pack has attacked cattle owned by two other ranchers.

The four wolfpacks remaining in the Kettle River Range occupy territories that have many ranchers and small farms, according to the department. Fish and Wildlife resorts to shooting wolves when it determines non-lethal measures won’t stop attacks on livestock from continuing.

The OPT pack occupied about 380 square miles in a central portion of the range, according to Fish and Wildlife. The Togo pack is to the north. The Sherman, Ni’icn and Frosty packs are to the south.