Hunting Dog Meets Yellowstone Wolves & Dies

12/17/95.

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The Soda Butte Pack recently moved north from Yellowstone into
the Beartooth Mountains, down the Stillwater River where they had
summered, and out onto the Beartooth Front which faces Montana
farmland.

A hunting dog, trained to hunt mountain lions, strayed from its
owners, a couple, while they were on a morning walk near Fishtail,
Montana.

The man, woman and two dogs were walking on the West Rosebud road
early Friday morning (Dec. 9). The small dog, one of two Walker
hounds, took off up a trail. The man tried to keep up with the
dog, but fell behind. He reports that he heard a growl and a roar
and soon found his dog dead. An aerial tracking flight had located
the wolves in the area that same day. Wolf-sized tracks were all
around the dead dog.

At last report, the pack was still outside the Park in the
foothills of the Beartooth Mountains, but had moved eastward
across Red Lodge Mountain and into the vicinity of Rock Creek.

A Montana Fish and Game spokesman said, "I wouldn't be surprised
if they [the wolves] stayed where they are. There's a lot of
deer where they are." Yellowstone Park spokesmen said they hoped
the pack, which consists of 5 adults and one 60-pound pup, would
come home.

Ed Bangs, the wolf project leader, said that they may try to
retrap the pack if it remains outside of Yellowstone Park for
more than a month.

Of the wolves reintroduced to Idaho and the Yellowstone Park this
year, this is the first confirmed kill of a domestic animal by the
wolves.

Defenders of Wildlife, which has established a private wolf
compensation fund for livestock killed by wolves, indicated that
they would not reimburse for the hound or any pet dogs. They
will reimburse for dogs used in livestock operations as well as
for livestock.

Biologists had predicted a small number of domestic livestock and
pets would eventually be killed by the wolves. Under the
reintroduction guidelines, wolves that attack pets twice in a
year will be captured and removed. A Yellowstone National Park
spokesman (John Varley) said that the definition of a pet might
not include a hunting dog that pursues animals on its own.