Wolves seen by someone every day in Yellowstone for the last 1000 days

11-13-2003, update 11-14


Of course wolves have been in Yellowstone since 1995, but at first they were not seen all the time. The Park Service just issued the news release below.

One Thousand Consecutive Days Observing Wolves in Yellowstone

Nov. 12, 2003

An extraordinary benchmark was set in Yellowstone National Park on November 5, 2003. On that day the Slough Creek pack was spotted near Crystal Creek in the northeast portion of the park. With that sighting, it means that at least one person has reportedly observed wolves in Yellowstone National Park every day for the past 1,000 consecutive days. The last time wolves were known not to have been seen anywhere in the park was February 8, 2001. Reports of observations are from park staff as well as park visitors.

This high visibility was an unexpected result of wolf recovery and has generated national and international public interest in coming to Yellowstone to observe wolves. When the original 31 wolves were reintroduced to the park, many expected that the wolves would be wary of people and not visible and/or sightings would be rare. Instead, the wolves have been very visible; about 130,000 people have observed wolves in Yellowstone since their reintroduction in 1995.

The interest in seeing a wolf has become one of the main wildlife attractions for visitors coming to Yellowstone from both around the country and the world. It's not unusual most days in the park to see a crowd gathered along roadsides in hopes of glimpsing one of the rare carnivores. Visitors planning to visit the park to see wolves or Yellowstone's other spectacular wildlife are reminded to use pullouts and remember that the animals are wild. Undisturbed space is among the greatest of their needs. Respect this, and you will be rewarded by seeing more of their natural activities and discovering how they live in the wild. Park regulations require that you must stay at least 100 yards away from bears and at least 25 yards away from all other wildlife, but if wildlife reacts to your presence, you are too close.

Update 11-14-03. Scott McMillion of the Bozeman Chronicle fleshed out an article from the news release, including a quote from Ken Sinay, owner of Yellowstone Safari Company. See "Yellowstone reports wolf sightings every day for almost three years." By Scott McMillion


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