Five new wolf packs derived from Idaho wolves in 2001
Oct. 9, 2001
Sixteen wolf packs in Idaho have been found to have new pups this year, and there are five new packs as well. Three of these are in Idaho and two in Montana, but derived from Idaho wolves.
The new Idaho packs are Scott Mountain, Gold Fork, and Twin Peaks (a pack thought to be extinct, but which has now been revived). Idaho wolves also founded the Fish Creek and Lupine Packs just over the border in Montana on the Lolo National Forest.
A minimum of 80 pups were born. The survival rate is not really known, but a present population estimate for Idaho is about 250 wolves, including pups, not 300 or 400 as reported by some anti-wolf groups and spokespersons.
The Gold Fork Pack inhabits the Gold Fork (of the Payette), Paddy Flat, and Kennelly Creek area SE of McCall in western Idaho. There had been reports of wolves in the area, and after extensive trapping the Nez Perce tribal wolf team located 2 adults, 2 yearlings, and 3 pups. They collared an adult and a yearling. The presence of yearlings indicated that 2001 was the pack's second breeding year and served to jump the number of breeding pairs in the Northern Rockies recovery area to 30 pairs in 2000 (retrospectively, making 2000 the first year in the delisting countdown). There is little doubt 2001 will be the second year. The pack origins of the Gold Fork pack's alpha pair is not known.
The Scott Mountain Pack was founded by B78F, nick-named ESA, a disperser from the north central Idaho Kelly Creek Pack. The origin pack of her mate is not known. They have 4 pups, and inhabit the Middle Fork of the Payette area in western Idaho.
The Twin Peaks Pack is a renewal of a pack that was trapped and shot out in March and April 2000 due to their killing of cow calves near Clayton, Idaho. It was well known that not every member the pack was killed or relocated. Supposition is the alpha female is a survivor of the old pack. The radio-collared alpha male is B59M, a disperser from the Thunder Mountain Pack of west central Idaho. They have seven pups, and inhabit the same territory as the old Twin Peaks Pack -- Loon Creek, Squaw Creek, and the upper Yankee Fork of the Salmon. Packs can renew themselves rapidly, and if the pups survive the year, the pack will be almost the same size as the original Twin Peaks Pack.
The two Montana packs derived from Idaho wolves are both located in the lengthy Fish Creek draining just over the Bitterroot Divide NW of Missoula. The Fish Creek pack appears to be led by alpha male B81M, one of the two Jureano Mountain pack pups relocated to central Idaho in 1999 after their pack has been destroyed. They were hanging out near a dairy farm in the valley just north of Salmon, Idaho, when they were trapped. Against all odds, buth wolves grew into adults. The Fish Creek pack has at least one pup. The Lupine Pack inhabits the headwaters of Fish Creek. They have at least 2 pups. B79M, a disperser from the Kelly Creek Pack in Idaho is a member of this new pack, but his status in the pack is not known.
The two new packs in Montana are part of the NW Montana recovery zone. Further monitoring will not be by the tribal wolf team, but rather Joe Fontaine's USFWS Montana team.
This information came from the Nez Perce Tribal wolf team. Any mistakes are in my interpretations.
See my last report on Idaho wolves: The Bitterroot Divide becomes a major wolf concentration area. Aug. 9, 2001.
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