"Dead Dogs and politics in the DuNoir-
A wolf has killed three dogs on a ranch in the DuNoir Valley, about 25 miles southeast of Yellowstone. Two of the dogs were found dead about a quarter mile from the ranch -- the Diamond G. The third is missing and presumed dead. The dogs were found dead on April 21. Although this is the range of the Washakie Pack, examination of the dead dogs indicates a single wolf killed the dogs. Ed Bangs, head of the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery was quoted in an Associated Press article that the small number of bites indicated just one wolf. He said that when several wolves are involved the dogs will have more bites. "The question is, 'Can one wolf kill two dogs?"' Bangs said. "The answer is they can if they are fighting." I reported last December that additional wolves had moved into the DuNoir. A black wolf in particular had been observed. This is the first official confirmation of this. I understand that for the time being, they plan to monitor the Washakie wolves more closely and try and collar the new wolves. The alpha male of the Washakie Pack, the late 15M, killed several cows on an area ranch last fall. He was dispatched because officials believed it was 15's second livestock depredation.
Further evidence that the Washakie Pack was not involved comes from radio tracking. The dogs were killed on April 21. On April 18 the Washakie Pack, which has three radio-collared members was 20 miles away from the ranch. On April 23, they were five miles from the ranch. Deb Robinett, the wife of the Diamond G's manager, reported seeing a single black wolf the day before the dogs were killed.
There was a meeting in Jackson, Wyoming, April 28, between Ed Bangs, head of the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Team, Jamie Clark, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other leaders in wolf recovery effort with ranchers from the area. Suffice it to say that meetings of this magnitude don't happen over a few dead dogs.
Defenders of Wildlife will pay for the three dogs. While payment is not given for pets or hunting dogs killed by wolves, Defenders pays for livestock and livestock associated losses, such as herding and guard dogs.
The Washakie Pack was most recently located in Tappen Creek, about five miles from the DuNoir."
As a result of that meeting, and according to Ed Bangs, the wolf recovery coordinator for the Northern Rockies, four biologists will be hired to handle wolf issues in Montana and Wyoming, outside of Yellowstone National Park. Two will be in Wyoming and two in Montana.
Bangs wants to hire the Wyoming wolf coordinator right away. He was quoted in the Jackson Hole News, "I was given the marching orders to make it [the hiring] as quick as I can."
Bangs told me he believed there would probably be significant dispersal of wolves from Yellowstone into Montana and Wyoming in 1998, especially next winter. The large crop of pups from 1997 will be sexually mature, and many will leave their packs.
I think Bangs is correct. I would predict Rose Creek, Druid, Crystal Creek, and Leopold would be packs where significant dispersal is most likely. I believe that there is room for more packs inside Yellowstone, but not room for many more.
There is extremely good wolf habitat in Wyoming south of the Yellowstone Park. By this I mean the prey base of elk is large. It is surprising to me the no wolves have yet found the Jackson Hole elk herd which summers along the southern boundary of Yellowstone and the Teton Wilderness immediately south of that. The herd uses this high country in the summer, but it migrates southward into the valley called "Jackson Hole" for the winter.
Wolves outside of Yellowstone are more controversial -- witnesses the uproar over the Washakie Pack, whose "marauding" has consisted of just two dead cow calves and possibly four others plus three dead herding dogs. Defenders of Wildlife has paid $5000 for these depredations.
Nevertheless, some of the local ranchers are in an uproar. This prompted their recent meeting the Bangs, Jamie Clark, who is the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and numerous other key federal players in the wolf recovery.
In recent wolf news, it was reported to me that the Washakie Pack may be chasing, but not harming cattle on the Diamond G ranch. Bangs told me their investigation could not verify this. A recent visual observation showed the pack just 100 yards from the pack. The cows were grazing with apparent unconcern and the pack was frisking and playing.
Nevertheless the Jackson Hole News has reported that the Washakie Pack is in jeopardy. If more livestock die, more of the pack will be shot -- maybe one wolf; maybe all of them.
Bangs told me federal agents would like to try some aversive conditioning of this pack -- not shock collars or anything like that. Rather it would be recording helicopter sounds. The pack is wise to helicopters. The wolves know it means trapping and similar knowledgeable wolves run for heavy timber when they hear it. The idea is to play these sounds when the wolves are close to the cattle, and especially at night. Will it work? We won't know for a while because the pack has recently moved away from the Diamond G of the DuNoir Valley. Bangs was quoted as saying he hope the Washakie Pack will follow the elk up into the high country as the spring migration continues. I should note that last year the Washakie Pack didn't do this. I speculate this may have been because the pack was new to the area and the alpha pair, no. 15M (later dispatched by ADC for killing cattle) and 26F, had a large litter of pups.
Other packs completely outside Yellowstone at the present are the Thorofare Pack (the five surviving yearlings), and the Sunlight Basin pair. All of the packs in the Park occasionally range slightly outside the Park.
There is now a rumor, which I could not confirm with Ed Bangs (out-of-the-office) or Defenders, that one of the ranchers in the DuNoir has now filled a lawsuit asking that Judge Downes' wolf removal order be implemented immediately. I hope to learn this isn't true.
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