Last member of Soda Butte Pack caught

7/11/96.

---

Wolf R15M, the one member of the Soda Butte Pack that escaped
the early June recapture of the Pack, has been caught and is now
in the Nez Perce Creek pen 10 miles north of Old Faithful.

The rest of the pack, including the three new pups, are still in
Crystal Creek Bench Pen awaiting transport later this summer
to the SE corner of Yellowstone.

Wolf 15, having escaped capture, teamed up with the lone female
with pups, no. 27, who was released from the Nez Perce Creek pen
last April only to see her pack splinter and scatter.

It is still not known how many pups no. 27 has. Five were originally
spotted. Later it was feared that all were dead because of the
difficulty of her finding food for all of them. An intern with
Yellowstone's wolf reintroduction program recently reported hearing
one pup howl in this foothills area north of the Park.

They are trying hard to capture no. 27 and her pup(s) because six sheep
have been killed in the area near Dean, Montana, probably by a wolf
or wolves. It is likely the wol(ves) are 27, 15, or both.

The private group, Defenders of Wildlife, will compensate for the
lost livestock.

I assume that upon capture, no. 27 and her pup or pups, will be put
in the Nez Perce enclosure with no. 15.

Number 27's former mate, the 130-pound no. 28M, has mostly been roaming
the north central part of Yellowstone. I have received several email reports from tourists who likely saw him.

For background, you may want to review my article of June 7 --
"Soda Butte Pack captured + 3 New Pups" -- and my article of
June 5 -- "R27F's pups might be dead."