Not much of a show of wolves this winter on the National Elk Refuge.

3-30-2001

The Jackson Hole News Reported this week that "since the winter 1998-1999, when . . . wolves found their Shangri-La in the National Elk Refuge, the wild canines appear to have abandoned paradise."

I was among those who thought that once elk found the Refuge they would be visible almost every day all winter, but '98-99 was the only year they spent much time on the Refuge. Since then they have preyed on elk wintering at the state feedgrounds up the Gros Ventre River and on elk dispersed on the mountains.  Two mild winters in a row might be the explanation. With so many elk wintering away from the Refuge, there is no need for them to approach civilization so closely (the Refuge is bounded by the small city of Jackson on its immediate south and the busy Jackson Hole Highway on its west).

Earlier this winter I posted an article on the surprisingly slow growth of the wolf population in the Jackson Hole area. Restoration of the wolf in Jackson Hole Proceeds at a snail's pace.

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