Truck hits and kills Yellowstone wolf pup

12/22/95

The Rose Creek pack in Yellowstone lost its first wolf pup the night of December 19 when a delivery truck hit and killed the 8-month old male.

The pup was one of eight born in late April near Red Lodge, Montana by the pack's alpha female. Her mate had been shot by Chad Mckittrick shortly before the birth of the pups. She and the pups were moved back to Yellowstone and the original Rose Cr. recovery enclosure on May 18. The large black female, no. 9., and her pups were fed until Oct. 11 when they were released.

The pack soon acquired a new adult male, no. 8M, a gray wolf, now 19 months old. He had dispersed from the nearly Crystal Bench pack.

The accident took place very close to the site of the now empty Rose Creek enclosure pen. Ironically it happened at a time of very low traffic with Yellowstone Park closed due to the government shutdown. The road from Mammoth Hot Springs, northward across the Park is kept open because it provides the only winter access to Cooke City and Silvergate, Montana, which lie just outside the NE Entrance to the Park.

Yellowstone Park superintendent Mike Finley said, "The young male, which weighed 65-pounds at death, was in excellent condition. [He] would have been a great asset to the recovery process."

The news release from Yellowstone Park also said that biologists will study the carcass to add to their knowledge of wolf genetics and the types of bacteria and parasites that the transplanted  wolves face in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

Superintendent Finley asked motorists to exercise caution while driving in the Park at night. There are a very large number of animals, many of them big -- elk, bison, and moose -- on the roads.

The delivery truck was returning after making delivery stops in Cooke City and Silvergate. The driver will not be charged. He is reported to be saddened about the accident.