Refuge Wolves highly visible as
Soda Butte Pack claims refuge and Jackson Trio moves north

(1-15-99) (rev. last on 1-19)

The Jackson newspapers, the News and the Guide, were full of stories about the wolves this week. A nice photo of a dark gray and white wolf in Kelly hayfields graced the front page of the News. Small crowds gathered near the National Elk Refuge to watch the wolves. The wolves were seen every day. The Refuge's horse drawn sleigh rides were more popular than ever as newcomers and Jackson Hole residents saw the first wolf pack in the valley in some 60 years.  Some of wolf watchers  were old hands from past wolf-watching in the Lamar Valley.

Because the Elk Refuge is closed to visitors, other than the sleigh rides, and there are numerous vantage points, it is ideal for wolf watching.

As of last Wednesday, Elk Refuge outdoor recreation planner Kevin Painter was quoted as saying there had been three confirmed elk kills on the refuge. It appears that two of the three were old elk cows.  Folks also observed the elk herd defending itself against the Soda Butte Pack.

Both papers produced disparaging quotes from long-time Jackson Hole livestock interests and outfitters, but most opinions seemed positive. The News had an editorial cartoon showing two wolves talking. One said, "I represent being the county's leash law enforcer." The other wolf, drooling, said "I don't!"

One letter to the editor in the News from a Wilson, Wyoming resident suggested the Elk Refuge should be renamed "Wolves Restaurant" or "The Killing Fields" and implied there was something wrong with tourists taking sleigh rides to watch the wolves send elk "running for their lives." The writer thought perhaps the sleigh rides could be moved to the elementary school where "we could restore some balance" to the human population" and thought "tourists could watch the wolves running down children at recess."

The Guide indicated that the executive director of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, Bill Malone, felt that the wolves would probably bring economic benefits to Jackson.

Outfitters seemed worried, but most alarmed statement was the quote of outfitter Paul Gilroy in the News who said the wolves will wipe out the elk herd. "The competition for this renewable resource is going to have to be spread between the hunters who pay to feed the elk and the wolves that don't pay anything." "All predators have to have a population limit. If they're allowed to grow unchecked, they're going to eat the slowest, tenderest thing, and that won't be elk and moose."

As if to contradict Gilroy, however, the Jackson Trio has already moved north of the Refuge and the elk refuge may have been claimed, at least for the time being, by the hard core Soda Butte Pack, veteran of hard winters in southern Yellowstone, and destroyer of the Thorofare pack last winter. It doesn't take much calculation to see these six wolves will not destroy the herd of thousands on the refuge. So far in the Yellowstone Country, the wolves have shown spatial intolerance of each other to a greater extent than many expected.  It is possible that may not even limit the Jackson Hole herd which is perennially larger than the goals of Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Update: it seems lots of people in Jackson have read my web page. The consensus seems to be that the outfitter mentioned above is considered to be on the fringe that sees elk as the only valuable animal (kind of the mirror image of some ranchers).

Last Thursday (Jan. 14) there was a meeting of Teton County officials, officials from land management agencies, livestock grazers, and other community members. It was described to me as having gone "very, very well."

The Guide quoted Painter saying he saw "one of the six Soda Butte wolves scratching at the ground vigorously and periodically urinating as the pack traveled north -- a sign that the animal could be marking territorial boundaries."

The Jackson Trio is no match for Soda Butte. Bob Caesar tells me that from the beginning one of the Trio, which he calls "3-legs," is in fact really on three legs due to injury.  His description indicates "3-legs" is the wily alpha male, no. 29M, the famous Nez Perce pen escape artist.

(1-17.)  It seems that "3-legs" is still around on the Refuge, and is in fact part of the Soda Butte Pack.  One email indicated his injury is an old one.  I will checking more on the identity of this wolf next week. It had been my supposition that 3-legs was part of the Trio and, therefore, was wolf 29M.

(1-19.) I have learned from the Yellowstone wolf team that the limping wolf is 123M or 124. The limp had been observed when the wolf was in the Yellowstone Park wilderness.

The News reported that "experts" predicted a population of 100 Yellowstone wolves would kill about 1200 ungulates a year. One hundred wolves on the Jackson Hole herd would reduce elk hunter harvests by 5 to 10%, the paper said.  This, of course, assumes wolf predation is strictly additive (the elk would not have otherwise died that year) rather than compensatory (wolves kill elk that would have died soon anyway).

It is estimated that 116 wolves now live in the Yellowstone Country which includes both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and millions of acres of surrounding national forest, BLM, state, Indian, and private lands.