YNP update;recapturing wolves ain't easy

6/4/96.

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The Park Service has been trying to capture the scattered
remnants of the first pack that was released this spring
from the Nez Perce acclimation pen -- numbers 26 - 30 and
37, but especially no. 27F who has given birth to five pups
and is alone in the Stillwater River drainage not far from
civilization. She has moved her pups several times. The
June 2 - 3 tracking flight found her moving up the Still-
water drainage.

They would also like to recapture some or all of the en-
tire pack, which orignally was from the Half-way Pack in
British Columbia. This is not easy, given the [deliberately]
underfunded condition of the wolf recovery program.

Here is where the rest of the members from this pen were lo-
cated: R28M, the huge male, had returned to the Park. He
was near Tower Junction in the NE central part of the Park.
The female yearlings R26F and R30F were near the southern
end of Sunlight Basin in the Absaroka Mountains east of the
Park. Female yearling R37F and male yearling R27M reunited
and were on the east side of Paradise Valley north of Mill
Cr. This is about 30 miles north of the Park's north
entrance.

Here is an update on the rest of the wolves based on the
June 2 -3 tracking flight:

DRUID PEAK
Four of the five wolves were in the Slough Creek drainage
near the boundary of the Park and the Absaroka/Beartooth
Wilderness to the north. The alpha female R39F has split
off and was about 15 miles east of the Park's NE entrance.
The pack has never been thought to have had pups.

ROSE CREEK
They are still in the Lamar Valley. R9F has at least three
pups. She has moved her den site several times. I was just
in the Park. She was at her den with one other wolf. The
rest were lounging on a hillside nearby.

LEOPOLD (formerly called "Blacktail)
As always so far, the pair were on the Blacktail Deer
Plateau. The female R7F is thought to be tending pups.

CHIEF JOSEPH
This was the second group to be released from the Nez
Perce enclosure this spring. They had been held in the
Crystal Creek enclosure for 3 months. All of the pack
was on the west side of the Park. R32F, R33F, and R34M
were together. R31M was alone on the Madison River a
few miles east of the park boundary community of West
Yellowstone, Montana.

CRYSTAL BENCH
This pack is down to just two members after the Druid Peak
pack killed the alpha male. The two are still in the Lamar
Valley area. The alpha female is moving quite a bit indica-
ting that for the second year she did not have pups. The
future of this pack appears dim to me.

SODA BUTTE
This 1995 pack were all (4) located in the West Rosebud
Creek drainage on the Beartooth Front. They seem to have
denned on private property. Through much of 1995 and con-
tinuously in 1996 this pack has made the foothills of the
Beartooth Mountains their home. They have killed no live-
stock, but there is intense pressure on the government to
recapture them and ship them to a pen in Yellowstone. The
Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to try and capture
them this week.

LONE STAR MALE
The male whose pregnant mate was killed in a Park hot spring
shortly after their release this spring has not been located
since April 15 when he was located east of Lewis Lake. Lewis
Lake is still locked in snow (about five feet when I drove
by yesterday). This wolf would most likely have moved south
since there is no wintering wildlife near Lewis Lake. There
have been reports of a "large canid" in the Snake River Moun-
tains near Swan Valley, Idaho [this is nowhere near the
central Idaho wolves]. This is about 20 miles SW of Jackson,
Wyoming.

Then again the animal may be the Victor "wolf". I have had
reports for several years that there is a wolf near Victor,
Idaho. Victor is a small community just inside Idaho about
20 miles west of Jackson where some of the Jackson working
class live. They commute daily over Teton Pass because they
can't afford to live to Jackson.

A FINAL COMMENT
Capturing and moving R9F and her eight pups last year, and
raising them all summer in the Rose Creek pen, was a great
success. However, it is little known that it almost ended
in tragedy because she moved her den from its original
location. The new den's location was found almost by luck.

Capturing the Nez Perce female, R27F, and her five pups;
and the Soda Butte female alpha and the rest of the pack,
probably including pups has no guarantee of success. It
is complicated. It could end in disaster. The Soda Butte
pack have harmed no livestock, but local interests want them
moved anyway.