Idaho Wolf Update for early December 1996

I have not been able to gain new information on the status of Idaho wolves for a considerable time now, but now here is some information on how the Idaho wolves fared this summer and fall. My last Idaho wolf udate was on Aug. 19. if you want to review it.

REPRODUCTION
It now appears that only 3 pairs of wolves produced litters, at least litters that survived. This is not a final conclusion because observing wolves in rugged and forested central Idaho is more difficult than in most of the Yellowstone country. There are about nine pairs of wolves that have resulted from the Idaho reintroductions.

The Landmark Pack
Wolves B6F and B8M, who have been paired for a long time, produced two pups. They range in or near the SW boundary of the River of No Return Wilderness.

The Selway Pack
Wolves B5M and B10F produced more than one pup. This is based on the number of howls heard in the area.

The Chamberlain Pack
Wolves B9M and B16F had from 2 to 4 pups. This is based on direct observation. Four wolves were observed by air with nos. 9 and 16. The 4 may be pups, but so large now that they are hard to distinguish from adults, or they may be adult reintroduced wolves whose radio transmission has been lost and have joined to form a pack. For example, it could be wolves such as B2 and B3, who have not been located for a very long time, plus two pups.

WOLF MORTALITY
No additional wolf deaths were reported this summer other than those reported earlier. The most recent death was that of B21 last June. No. 21 died when it dragged its trap into a nearby creek and drowned. No. 21 was trapped and was slated for relocation because it had killed three cow calves near Cascade, Idaho.

The Big Hole Pack
Earlier reports that nos. B7M and B11F had produced pups in the Big Hole Mountain and valley area of Montana proved false. See more about this pair under "livestock kills" below.

LIVESTOCK KILLS
Eight reports of wolf-killed livestock were received. Each report was examined by the federal agency, Animal Damage Control. ADC confirmed three of the reports. The first concerned wolf 21 (described above).

The second case resulted in the death of about 30 sheep on a public grazing allotment in the Payette National Forest (western Idaho). B20 and B24 (a pair) had been making a living on elk and deer in the Lick Creek Mountains east of Cascade/McCall. When the sheep came onto the summer range and eventually reached the high elevation country were the wolves hung out, the wolves apparently caused the sheep to scatter. Perhaps following the instinct to chase and wound or kill a fleeing animal, about every 7 to 10 days this pair of wolves would encounter the sheep and kill several. Only in one case was a sheep partially consumed. The sheep were apparently not attacked as a source of food. Many of the sheep were wounded, to die later. The female of the pair was trapped and relocated and the killing of sheep ceased.

The third case occurred in early November in the Big Hole Valley of Montana, near the Idaho border. B7 and B11 paired last winter near Blue Joint Meadows high in the Salmon River Mountains on the Idaho/Montana border. Eventually they migrated to the SE over the state line into the rugged Big Hole Mountains of the Continental Divide. These mountains abut the Big Hole Valley, a sparsely- populated ranching valley full of moose, elk, deer, and cows. Summer passed without any incidents (nor pups, as it turned out). In November the pair killed a heifer. There was an attempt to capture the pair and relocate them, but B11F was the only wolf captured. She was relocated 180 miles away, but she soon migrated the 180 miles back to join with B7. They are still trying to capture the pair and remove them from the Big Hole Valley, but it is extremely difficult to do this by air in this forested mountain country.

Here is a photo of the Big Hole Valley

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taken from a short distance up on the Big Hole Mountains. The view is toward the northeast.

ADDITIONAL-
The Nez Perce Tribal Wolf Recovery Team made hundreds of contacts with hunters during the fall hunting season to provide information about the presence of wolves in central Idaho. I understand that the response from a considerable majority of the hunters was positive. One of the new packs was watched carefully throughout the hunting season because it was fairly near a road.

The Idaho wolf reproduction this year, like the Yellowstone was less than many people expected. All of the Idaho pups were born to wolves that were introduced in 1995. Although a number of pairs from the 96 wolves formed, there were apparently no pups.

The Idaho wolves are scattered over about 16-million acres. A similar number of Yellowstone wolves occupy about 4 million acres if we discount one outlier (wolf R39F). The majority of Yellowstone wolves are all in an area of about 200,000 acres -- Lamar Valley, Slough Creek, Soda Butte Creek, and the Blacktail Deer Plateau.