The last Idaho wolf update I posted was on Feb. 24. Readers may want to consult that report plus those dated 8-19-96 and 12-6-96 for background. Most of this information is from the Idaho Gray Wolf Project of the Nez Perce Tribe. Some is direct quotation.

The "Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists continue to monitor the movements of gray wolves distributed across Idaho and [one wolf in] Montana." [Since the reintroduction began in 1995] "four wolves are dead and two others have been missing for approximatley 10 months. Two wolves are currently being held and 27 are being monitored. One radio-collared wolf remains in Montana. Monitored wolves include 13 wolf pairs [this includes one pack of three unrelated wolves]. Not all wolf pairs necessarily represent breeding pairs. Three wolf pairs being monitored include wolves that either were not part of the translocated experimental populatuion [that is, they may be native wolves], or are wolves with failed radios."

The Idaho wolves have been monitored less and recaptured much less than the Yellowstone wolves. Central Idaho wolf country is also, at present, larger than the area containing the Yellowstone wolves. A number of the radio collars are beginning to fail. As a result, less is known about their whereabouts than the Yellowstone wolves.

Summary
At the present, 27 wolves are being monitored although the actual number of wolves present is larger than this. Counting wolves whose radio collars have failed, pups, the two wolves being held, and possible native wolves, my estimate is that central Idaho has from 42-47 wolves, about the same as the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

First a bit of geography
The Salmon River originates in the Smoky Mountains of Idaho and runs northward through the famous Sawtooth Valley. Then it turns to the east for about forty miles, only to turn north again near the town of Challis. After fifty more miles, the Salmon River bends at a 90 degree angle to the west and runs directly across the Salmon River Mountains of central Idaho. This canyon -- the "River of No Return" -- divides the state in half. The majority of the Idaho wolves are, and always have been located south of the Salmon River's great defile across central Idaho. A small number of radio-collared wolves were located north of the Salmon River. This includes a lone male, a female with a native mate, a pack with pups from 1996, and a wolf pair in an enclosure inside the Selway/Bitterroot Wilderness.

Twenty-one radio-collared wolves were located south of the Salmon River, however.

Lolo National Forest (NW Montana)
Wolf B15F was located in Granite Creek, just inside Montana on April 13. On April 6, she was located in Fish Creek, just inside Idaho on the Clearwater National Forest. No. 15 is still apparently with the non-collared wolf she paired with almost two years ago. Their territory is well established -- the country on the Idaho-Montana border (Bitterroot Divide) just north of Highway 12. There is no evidence that they had pups in the spring of 1996.

Clearwater National Forest (north central Idaho)
The Clearwater National Forest is just across the Bitterroot Divide from the Lolo in Montana. Wolf B14M was last located in the Elk Summit roadless area in White Sand Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains during Februrary and March, but was not located in April.

Nez Perce National Forest (northwest central Idaho)
Wolf B31M's radio collar has been on "mortality" mode for many months. Now it has failed completely. Neverthless no. 31 is not dead and has been observed a number of times, often with another wolf (no radio collar). The wolf team believes no. 31 and perhaps its "associate" are in the Nez Perce National Forest on the Salmon River Breaks (the steep north slope of the Salmon River Canyon).

Bitterroot National Forest (northeast central Idaho and also Montana)
The Selway Pack, nos. B5M and B10F, and an undetermined number of pups, were located in Deep Creek near the Selway River on April 6. They were east of the lower reaches of Bargamin Creek in a large burned area March 25. On March 21 they were located near the head of Swet Creek. This is all in the Selway/Bitterroot or Frank Church Wilderness. The pack has a definite, but large, territory -- the upper reaches of the Selway River and a good portion of the eastern portion of the Salmon River Breaks to the south of the Selway. T They are also occasionally are found just inside Montana near the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River.

Pair B11F and B7M have been reunited. No. 7, the long-time partner to wolf no. 11 has been re-captured and returned to the pair's wilderness enclosure deep inside the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness at Running Creek on the Selway River.

Wolves 7 and 11 moved into the Big Hole Mountains and valley along the Idaho/Montana border during Feb. 1996. B11 was already long familiar with the area. They did not have pups during May 1996, although at first it was thought they did.

During the summer, they killed one or more cow calves. They were captured (after numerous tries) and placed in a Yellowstone enclosure and then in a deep wilderness Idaho enclosure. They were slated for release in a still different Idaho backcountry location. The movement is to confuse them so that they don't return to the Big Hole Valley.

Initial plans partially failed, however. Within hours no. 7 escaped from the wilderness enclosure and soon returned to the Big Hole Valley. He was recaptured in April and returned to the pen with no. 11. It is not known if no. 11 is pregnant, but she is observed to be in excellent condition. She will held for several more weeks. If there are no pups, the pair will be released north of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, far from the Big Hole Valley.

Payette National Forest (west central Idaho)
The Chamberlain Basin Pack, Idaho's largest pack with from 4 to 5 pups from last year, were all located in Whimstick Creek on April 13. On April 6 the alpha male, no. B9 was located in Crooked Creek in the Big Creek drainage near wintering elk. His mate no. B16, was 15 miles to the north in Disappointment Creek. This is in the most remote reaches of the Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness.

Wolf B22F was not located in February, but she was located several times in April in the general area of the South Fork of the Salmon River. It is believed she is with wolf B34M, a large black wolf.

Wolf 33M was located twice in April in the West Fork of Lake Fork Creek to the east of McCall, Idaho.

Wolf 24M was not located. It had been located last on February 3 in Pistol Creek in the Frank Church Wilderness.

Boise National Forest (western Idaho)

The Landmark Pack, wolves B6F, B8M, and their three or four pups were all observed crossing the Middle Fork of the Salmon River near Pistol Creek. This was on February 9. In April they had moved to the south of the Frank Church Wilderness are they were located near the confluence of Fir Creek and Bear Valley Creek.

Wolves 23F and 27M were also located in Fir Creek near the confluence with Bear Valley Creek, less than a mile from the Landmark Pack.

Wolves B28M and B30F were located in Camp Creek near Stolle Meadows on April 12. In March they had been located several times in the nearby Deadwood River drainage, often in company with wolf B19M. In the February report, the Idaho wolf team was calling this group of three "the Bear Valley Pack", but they didn't use this label in their April report.

Salmon-Challis National Forest

Paired wolves 25F and 32M were located twice in the Panther Creek drainage near the edge of the Frank Church Wilderness.

Paired wolves 29M and 37F were also located in the Panther Creek drainage in Little Deer Creek.

Pair B35F and B18M were located near Falconberry in Loon Creek, deep in the River of No Return Wilderness. This is deep in SE side of the Frank Church Wilderness.

Wolf B12M was not located in February, but had been located January 27 near the Challis Creek Lakes in the drainage of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River. In April B12 was located near Spud Basin in the Pahsimeroi River drainage. His radio collar signal has been weak for a number of months.

Sawtooth National Forest

Wolf B36F had been located in February in the Lemhi Mountains south of Leadore, Idaho. During March she moved several mountain ranges westward and was located on the western edge of the White Cloud Mountains on Horton Peak, overlooking the Sawtooth Valley. She was with an uncollared or non-collared wolf near two dead elk. It was thought the second wolf was B12M, but it was later concluded that the wolf was not B12.

The INEL Wolf

The wolf I recently reported on the Snake River Plain on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory has not been identified either as to origin or even if it is a wolf. It was last located near Craters of the Moon National Monument. There were unverified reports of a wolf near the national monument last year as well, I have learned.