There are 85 free roaming wolves and 3 wolves with unknown fates. Total free roaming packs is nine. One captive canid in the Nez Perce pen, which is not included in these numbers. Total wolf population is 88 wolves. Twelve females have shown signs of denning behavior, only ten litters have currently been sighted, therefore the population count is not complete for the 1997 breeding season.
Reported by Bill Hamblin - three wolves (probably the Druid Peak Pack) were seen on Tuesday, 09 Sep 97 from the confluence of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek.
On Sunday, 16 Nov 97, federal officials killed a male wolf that had been preying on cattle in the local area. This happened outside the park in the DuNoir Valley area south of Yellowstone. The rest of the pack are still on the loose and officials are trying to catch the other six wolves. This pack consisted of the alpha male and female and fives pups that were born this spring. The specific pack was not named in the press release, but it looks like it is the Washakie pack. I will post more info as it becomes available.
This information is provided by the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. As of this report, there are approximately 97 wolves consisting of nine packs inhabiting the great Yellowstone area. Seven packs have established territories within Yellowstone. The eighth pack, the Washakie Pack, is inhabiting national forest land in the DuNoir Valley south of Yellowstone. The last pack, the Nez Perce Pack, is currently in an acclimation pen awaiting release some time in January 1998. This pack is being re-acclimated because they traveled west of the park twice, the first time apparently depredating on livestock. The hope is that this acclimation period will keep the pack closer to the Yellowstone ecosystem after release. A lone wolf, number 63, a female yearling, was recently shot after it was determined that she depredated on livestock for the second time. This happened north of Yellowstone on the Beartooth front.
This information is provided by the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service as of 01 Dec 97. As of this date, about 90 wolves grouped in 9 packs inhabit the greater Yellowstone area. Seven packs have established territory within Yellowstone National Park. The eighth pack, the Washakie pack is inhabiting national forest land in the DuNoir Valley south of Yellowstone. The ninth pack, the Nez Perce Pack, is currently in an acclimation pen awaiting release some time in January 1998. Unfortunately, wolf #029 a male and wolf #027 a female, have escaped the enclosure area. ADC officials claim wolf #037 has committed her second offense in killing livestock, therefore she was recently shot when she left Yellowstone. Number 029 was located in Hayden Valley as of Sunday, 30 Nov 97.
Some very sad news today, U.S. District Judge William Downes ruled that the wolves in Yellowstone and central Idaho have been illegally introduced and have to be removed. See CNN coverage on the ruling. The judge stated that the wolves that were brought in, are causing a problem with the wolves in Montana that were naturally migrating south and protected under the endangered species act. And that if these were wolves that had naturally migrated to these areas, no one could kill them no matter what they did. He ruled that the reintroduced wolves have to be removed from both Yellowstone and central Idaho. He then stayed his order pending an appeal that would naturally follow. We need any and all help we can possibly generate to see that judge Downes ruling is overturned. Thank you!
The following organizations sued for removal the wolves from Yellowstone and Idaho: the Farm Bureau of America and James and Cat Urbigkit of Pinedale, Wyoming. Please let these organizations know what you think of their suit and what they are having done to these wolves.
Please contact the President, Vice President, the First Lady, the Justice Department, the Governor of Wyoming, your senators and congressmen, anyone and everyone that you can think of that will listen and help to see this wrong changed. We let the government go in and exterminate the wolves in Yellowstone once before, let's not let it happen again! Your help is needed, and then get your family and neighbors and friends to help!
Please read the Wolf News Page and find out how you can help with this campaign.
This information is provided by the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service as of 18 Dec 97. As of this date, about 90 wolves grouped in 9 packs inhabit the greater Yellowstone area. Seven packs have established territory within Yellowstone National Park. Although one of these packs, the Soda Butte Pack has recently moved south of the park in the area of Grand Teton National Park. The eighth pack, the Washakie pack is inhabiting national forest land in the Du Noir Valley south of Yellowstone. The ninth pack, the Nez Perce Pack, is currently in an acclimation pen awaiting release some time in January 1998. Wolf #029 a male, has escaped the Nez Perce Pen enclosure and has been located in Hayden Valley. ADC officials claim wolf #037, who also escaped the Nez Perce Pen has committed her second offense in killing livestock, therefore she was recently shot when she left Yellowstone. Two member of the Druid Peak Pack has recently been illegally shot east of Yellowstone. This incident is still under investigation.
The recent court ruling by Judge Downes has not altered operations by the wolf project staff. Monitoring, management and study of Yellowstone wolves is proceeding as planned.
Female wolf #039 (also known as the white wolf), the former pupsitter of the Druid Peak Pack and an off and on member of the pack, took male wolf #021 from the Rose Creek Pack to meet the Druid Peak Pack. After #021 was driven off several times during a five hour period, he was accepted into the pack and it looks like he will be the replacement for the two male wolves (#031 and #038) that were killed illegally outside the park between Cooke City and Silver Gate, Montana. Wolf #039 then left the pack and resumed her lone travels in Lamar Valley. This information was provided by Kevin Sanders, Yellowstone Naturalist/Wolf Tracker.
This information is provided by the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service as of 05 Jan 97. As of this date, about 90 wolves grouped in 9 packs inhabit the greater Yellowstone area. Seven packs have established territory within Yellowstone National Park. Although one of these packs, the Soda Butte Pack has recently moved south of the park in the area of Grand Teton National Park. The eighth pack, the Washakie pack is inhabiting national forest land in the Du Noir Valley south of Yellowstone. The ninth pack, the Nez Perce Pack, is currently in an acclimation pen awaiting release some time month. Two member of the Druid Peak Pack has recently been illegally shot east of Yellowstone. This incident is still under investigation.
The Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service are in the process of capturing the wolves with a helicopter and net gun and placing radio collars on the wolves. As you know, the new pups and last years pups do not have collars. And some of the old collars batteries have worn out.... not the energizer batteries.....
Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley announced today that during early January 1998 approximately 40 to 45 free-ranging wolves from 8 different wolf packs will be captured and radio-collared. This will enable park biologists to continue to track reintroduced wolves and their offspring and to determine if and when a recovered wolf population has been achieved. Minimal radio collaring has been done on the offspring; additionally, some radio collars on originally reintroduced Canadian wolves need to be replaced. The capture and radio-collaring project is a part of the monitoring and recovery plan approved in 1995 and underway since then. The radio-collaring project is unrelated to the recent federal court ruling.
Wolves were reintroduced to the park in January 1995 (14 wolves) and 1996 (17 wolves) as a non-essential experimental population under the Endangered Species Act. The reintroduction program is doing better than predicted, with approximately 85 pups born over the reintroduction period and a total of 90 free-ranging wolves that reside mainly in the park. Federal law requires that a recovered gray wolf population be documented in each of three recovery areas (Yellowstone, central Idaho, and northwestern Montana) before they can be removed from the endangered species list. A recovered population is defined as a minimum of 10 pairs of wolves breeding for 3 consecutive years in each of the recovery areas.
All capture attempts will be accomplished by helicopter net gunning in a safe and humane manner. All netted wolves will be muzzled, blindfolded, and hobbled and then processed. Processing will include radio collaring, blood extraction, weighing, sex determination, and condition evaluation. Collared animals will be released at point of capture. The goal is to capture 30 to 50 percent of the pups in each pack and replace or install collars on the two lead adults in each pack.
Helicopter Wildlife Management, leading experts world-wide in wildlife capture and handling procedures, have donated their equipment (including helicopters) and personnel to do the net-gunning operation. Wolf radio-collars have been purchased with private donations. All capture operations will be overseen by and coordinated with the Yellowstone Wolf Project staff and the park's Fire Cache (helicopter operations).
This information is provided by the National Park Service and the US Fish andWildlife Service as of 14 Jan 97. As of this date, about 80 wolves grouped in 9 packs inhabit the greater Yellowstone area. Seven packs have established territory within Yellowstone National Park. The Soda Butte Pack which was exploring national forest land east of Grand Teton National Park, has moved back into Yellowstone to its former territory around Heart Lake. The eighth pack, the Washakie pack continues to inhabiting national forest land in and around the Du Noir Valley south of Yellowstone. The ninth pack, the Nez Perce Pack, is currently in an acclimation pen awaiting release some time before this summer. Wolf number 029, having escaped the Nez Perce enclosure, has been traveling between the Nez Perce Pen area and the Hayden Valley area. Two member of the Druid Peak Pack were illegally shot east of Yellowstone. This incident is still under investigation.
Thirteen (13) wolves in Yellowstone were recently radio collared in an effort to better study the animals, and monitor and manage the wolves. In addition, four (4) wolves that were previously fitted with collars were re-fitted with new collars. Capturing was accomplished with nets from a helicopter. No wolves or staff were injured during capture operations.
I am in Yellowstone now, as of this morning 06 Feb 98, seven wolves of the Druid Peak Pack were visible on Mt. Norris at dawn. Telemetry signals could not be picked up by the Wolf Project staff from the Rose Creek or Leopold Packs. Also, there is a fresh kill 30 yards off the road near the Institute / Ranger Station in Lamar. I could not believe the number of coyotes today - singles and coyote packs in all directions. We also observed great interactions with five coyotes arguing over a front leg from the carcass. The end result was the dominant animal eating the leg 40 yards from our car.
There is a report that on the last telemetry flight, three mortality signals were picked up from the Thorofare Pack. The Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service hope to further investigate this situation to find out if this is a radio collar malfunction (hopefully) or the real thing. This pack is in a very remote area of the park and it will take a while until these signals can be researched to determine the situation. Beside this information, there is no new report or information from the Park Service or Fish and Wildlife Service. The radio collaring program was supposed to begin again in February, but has not restarted as of this date.
According to rangers I talked with today, they are still unclear on the possible deaths of wolves in the Thorofare Pack. They had heard a report that a radio collar had been chewed off and thus they were picking up a mortality signal. The collars are built so that if an animal stops moving for a certain period of time, the signal changes and gives off what is called a mortality signal. If a collar was chewed off, after it remained motionless for a certain period of time, you would get the signal. This may mean two things, these wolves are very smart and don't like the collars and have figured a way to free themselves (well at least two have), and that possibly the alpha female is still alive. Hopefully the park service will find out what has happened and let us know. Again, the Thorofare Pack is in a very isolated area of Yellowstone and it may take a while to determine what exactly is going on with the pack. If the alpha female is alive, that would make it a good possibility that the pups will survive. Hope and pray for good news on this one.
This information is provided by the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service as of 19 Mar 97. As of this date, about 80 wolves grouped in 10 packs inhabit the greater Yellowstone area. Eight of the ten packs have established territory within Yellowstone National Park. The ninth pack, the Washakie pack continues to inhabit national forest land in and around the Du Noir Valley south of Yellowstone. The tenth pack, the Nez Perce Pack, is currently in an acclimation pen awaiting release some time before this summer.
Wolf number 029, having escaped the Nez Perce enclosure, has recently been seen with wolf number 48 a lone female wolf. The hope is that these two will produce pups during this years breeding season. These two wolves have been located near the Nez Perce pen area in Yellowstone.
Five pups from the Thorofare Pack have recently been orphaned. The Alpha male from this pack has apparently been killed in an inter-pack struggle with the Soda Butte Pack. The Alpha female has also apparently died, her radio collar is emitting a mortality signal from an avalanche site. However, biologists do not know if the two deaths are connected until they are able to retrieve the carcass.
Two member of the Druid Peak Pack were illegally shot east of Yellowstone. This incident is still under investigation.
A total of 19 wolves in Yellowstone were recently radio collared in an effort to better study the animals, and monitor and manage the wolves. Capturing was accomplished with nets from a helicopter. No wolves or staff were injured during capture operations.
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