Wolves of Yellowstone National Park

Wolves were originally an animal that was native to the Yellowstone region. Many of the park's early visitors reported seeing and hearing wolves. There are thirty-seven written accounts from visitors prior to 1882 that specifically wrote about seeing and hearing wolves.

One prospector, David Weaver wrote,"The wolves, like the poor in spirit, were always with us" in an account about a trip he took to Paradise Valley in 1864, which is adjacent to what is now Yellowstone Park. From this, we can surmise they were also in Yellowstone Park.

The Endangered Species designation, given to the wolf in 1973, helped lead the way toward today's current reintroduction program of gray wolves to Yellowstone Park. However, before wolves could be reintroduced to this area extensive ecological studies had to be made before any reintroduction efforts could be allowed.

Talk of this first started in 1978. People knew this would take some time, but not many at the time ever dreamed it would take nearly twenty years to complete the studies and ensuing legal battles.

Lawsuits against wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone were brought forth by the Wyoming Farm Bureau and the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club, and others. A spokesman for the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club said in a report that the group believed the plan didn't provide enough protection for the wolves, while the Farm Bureau argued that the EIS didn't address concerns of the livestock industry.

Wolf reintroduction is and always has been an issue that involves emotional, deeply held opinions on wolves. It's one of the few issues that regularly makes the 10:00 news. This is a fairly strong statement about society now versus fifty to a hundred years ago.

Finally, in 1995, after an absence of almost sixty years, the first wolf packs were reintroduced into Yellowstone Park.

Because the wolves are designated as an "experimental population," they are not protected by the Endangered Species Act once they leave Yellowstone. So for example, if a wolf is seen preying on livestock, a rancher is allowed to take matter into his own hands in order to deter the animal from depredating his livestock.

If livestock is killed by a wolf, or a pack of wolves, ranchers are compensated for any animals lost by a fund established by Defenders of Wildlife, based in Missoula, Montana.

As of the beginning of 1997 only fifteen instances of livestock killed by wolves had been reported. In most cases, the problem wolves were removed or destroyed from the ecosystem.

All livestock kills were sheep, with no cattle having been taken down by wolves. In each of the fifteen cases of depredation, Defenders of Wildlife compensated the affected ranchers at fair market value or higher.

The fact that wolves, under the plan, would lose their Endangered Species protection when they wander out of the park, has stirred some concerns among environmentalists who say such a guideline doesn't allow for enough protection for the animal. Some people think that under such a plan wolves will have a hard time increasing in numbers due to their danger outside of the park's boundaries.

However, park environmental experts say wolves are highly reproductive animals, and unlike the grizzly bear, who has a cub when she's five or six years old, and may only reproduce once or twice, wolves begin having pups as early as when they're two years old. Each litter contains up to six pups, and they may reproduce four or five times.

Another objection to the wolf recovery plan on the other side of the issue stems from the hunting and big game industry. Under the reintroduction plan, it is predicted that the wolves will kill up to 1,200 ungulates per year, affecting hunter harvest of female elk, mule deer, and moose for some herds. Hunter harvests of bighorn sheep, mountain goats and antelope would not be significantly affected according to the studies.

Because of Yellowstone's landscape, visitors might see wolves from long distances. Yellowstone has many large wide open valleys. Therefore, should a wolf pack decide to reside in one of them, it is possible visitors could see a wolf from a distance. In fact, as early as the summer of 1995, many wolf sightings occurred within the park. Park wardens advise to be patient, use binoculars, and listen for the animal's howls to learn their location.

As far as a threat of danger to Yellowstone's millions of annual visitors, there isn't any more of a threat of being attacked by wolves than there is for grizzly bears, moose, mountain lions, etc. More injuries in the park are caused by bison, bears and mountain lions than by wolves in all of the nation's national parks. Restoring the wolves has restored a large link in the biological chain of the park.

In 1995, two packs of wolves were reintroduced into the park. The first pack released in 1995 is known as the Rose Creek Pack and is the favorite of many who follow the history of the Yellowstone Wolves because the matriarch of this pack is still alive today, which is very old for a wolf in the wild. She was recently reported to have a new litter of pups, which is very rare for a wild wolf nearing nine or ten years of age.

The original Rose Creek Pack started with three wolves, Alpha Male #10, Alpha Female #9 and her yearling female pup #7. Alpha Male #10 was the first wolf to leave the pens, becoming the first free wolf in Yellowstone in over 60 years. Shortly after the pack was released from the acclimation pen, Wolf #7 struck out on her own. In late April, four male and four female pups were born to Wolf #9 and Wolf #10. Alpha Male #10 was illegally killed later that month. Number 10's killer was caught, tried and convicted.

Mom and the pups were recaptured and returned to the Rose Creek pen. After their re-release, Wolf #8 from the Crystal Creek Pack joined #9 as the new Alpha Male. Pup #22 was hit by a vehicle and killed in Lamar Valley just before Christmas 1995.

The second pack, named the Soda Butte Pack, consisted of five wolves. This group has occupied the Northeast corner of the park and the adjacent National Forest since their release. The Alpha female gave birth to one pup in 1995.

Wolf #12 left the pack in December, 1995. He traveled outside the park's southern border and was illegally killed on February 11, 1996, near Daniels, Wyoming. The person responsible has not been caught.

Wolf #11 left the pack in January of 1996. She was mistaken for a Coyote and killed by a ranch hand. He reported the incident and was fined $500.00 by authorities.

In January of 1996 the capture and traslocation of a new pack of wolves was completed and they were named the Nez Perce Pack. These wolves were captured near Fort Saint John, British Columbia and relocated to the acclimation pens in Yellowstone. They were released in the spring of 1996.

Another pack released in 1996 was called the Lone Star Pack. A black adult female, Wolf #36, fell into a hot pot in the Old Faithful area and died in the spring of 1996. She was carrying six pups. Male wolf #35 has been hard to track, but is believed to be in the Southwest area of Yellowstone.

The Leopold pack has the distinction of being the first free forming pack in Yellowstone National Park and is named after Aldo Leopold, a noted conservationist and a pioneer of wolf restoration. Striking out on their own as 1.5 year old wolves often do, female #7 from the original Rose Creek pack and male #2 from the Crystal Creek pack spent time as "lone wolves," wandering the park. They have staked out a territory and have were observed exhibiting courtship behavior in the winter of 1996.

The 1996 capture and traslocation of the Druid Peak wolves was completed in January of 1996. These wolves were captured near Fort Saint John, British Columbia and relocated to the acclimation pens in Yellowstone. They were released in the spring of 1996.

The Crystal Creek pack originally consisted of six wolves. This pack was very visible to park visitors in Lamar Valley. It is estimated that over 4,000 people saw these wolves in 1995. This pack has allowed visitors to witness first hand the amazing life and death struggles now taking place in what has been referred to as the Serengeti of North America. Wolves #2 and #8 have left the pack and found mates. Wolf #3 left the Park and had to be removed from the program for killing sheep.

The Chief Joseph Pack was also captured and traslocated in January of 1996. These wolves were captured near Fort Saint John, British Columbia and relocated to the acclimation pens in Yellowstone, where they were released in the spring of 1996.

The remaining wolves in Yellowstone Park are descended from these packs. In all, there have been a total of one hundred eighteen wolves resulting from the reintroduction program. Of these forty-four have been killed.

Seven were shot illegally, and seven more were shot for killing livestock. One lost a leg in an accident and was removed to a wolf sanctuary in captivity. Seven more were killed by wolves, one was suspected to have been killed by an avalanche, five were killed by cars, and two by management control. Four died from the natural cause of old age, and the reasons for the remaining deaths are unknown.

At present there are eleven packs with seven litters. Total Wolf population is seventy-five adults and approximately forty pups.

Old Number 9 was kicked out of the original Rose Creek pack last year by her daughter, who is the new alpha female of that pack. It was speculated that Number 9, on her own, would not survive the winter. However, she not only survived but has found a new mate and produced another litter.

This newest pack is now known as the Valentine Pack because it was discovered on Valentine's Day of the year 2000.