3-3-2005

There have been a number of recent developments, and folks should know there is suddenly a lot of new wolf information available because the Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2004 Annual Report was released March 1. Over the next few months, I will be explicating some of these data.

Meanwhile in Yellowstone Park, about a week ago the Sloughs killed a bison directly across from the Lamar Ranger Station. The battle was apparently awesome and it took about an hour to bring the bison down. One Slough wolf was injured, 453M. He remained behind after the rest of pack rather quickly abandoned the carcass because too much of it was under water. There is no obvious reason to think 453 is permanently injured, but on March 2 observers noted that he was still walking "stiffly."

Here is a photo of tranquilized 453M I took in October after he got accidentally caught in a coyote
snare (coyote researcher's) in the Lamar. Copyright Ralph Maughan

Not to be deterred, the Sloughs soon made another try to take a bison, but were not successful. In the present, and in the past the Sloughs have taken more bison than the other northern range packs. They are many possible reasons, but one hypothesis stands out -- the Sloughs were derived from the brawny bison-killing Mollie's Pack. Perhaps the knowledge that bison can be prey and the skill to do it is communicated to new members of the pack.

Lately the Sloughs have pretty much owned the Lamar Valley, and Druids are up the Lamar River near Cache Creek. This is not usually a good place to find elk, but this mild winter finds a substantial number of bull elk up the Lamar and the Druids are doing OK.  I wonder if they will choose a den site up there, since they seem to have been displaced from the core of their traditional winter and spring range.

Meanwhile, largest pack in the Park remains the Leopolds, and 22 were counted on March 2.

The pack of 4, with the white wolf that many folks have saw late last summer and fall in Hayden Valley remains uncollared, but they were counted in the final Park wolf total of 169 wolves in 2004. They have been named the Hayden Valley Pack, and are thought to have been derived from the Nez Perce Pack. These four wolves were spotted again March 2.

After disappearing from the Park for several months, Mollie's Pack is back in the Pelican and already at work on their annual habit of taking late winter weakened bison.  Recently 3 pups were collared. Most of the recent core of the pack is dead, but reinforcements have come with the return of wolves 378M and 379M, who must have given up on their efforts to gain a place with the Sloughs or the Druids. Dr. Doug Smith told me today it is likely one of them will be the Mollie's alpha male.

In other park news, the starving Biscuit Basin Pack has, at least for now, abandoned the Firehole River and are in Park area to the east of West Yellowstone.

The 2004 report (page 12) indicates that winter wolf kill rate has been greatly reduced. The report states "Kill rates for the period of 1995-2000 showed that wolves residing on the northern range killed an average of 1.8 elk/wolf/30-day study period during the winter. Using the same method for calculating kill rates as previously, wolves on the northern range killed an average of 1.1 elk/wolf/30-day study for the period of 2001-2004. This decrease of 40% suggested that ecological conditions were changing for wolves in this part of YNP."

Wolf news on the northern range just north of the Park is not good. Mange seems to have attacked every pack. The new Casey Lake Pack is now just 2 wolves -- both radio collared and living in Eagle Creek, right next to the Park.

The Sheep Mountain Pack (the first wolf pack to colonize north of Yellowstone) is no more -- a victim of gov't control and mange.

The Mill Creek pack is reduced in numbers and mangy.

The Lone Bear pack was mangy and finally eliminated by the government last month after a number attacks on sheep.

The Chief Joseph Pack, one of the introduced Park packs in 1996, still dens in the Park but spends most of its time north of the park. Here is the rather grim 2004 summary from the just released report for Chief Joe .

In February [2004], personnel from FWP and TESF aerially darted and radio collared 2 adult male wolves, #393M and #394M, from this pack. Wolf #393M had severe mange and was found dead the day after his capture. His death was likely caused by the stress of capture combined with his poor condition. Wolves harassed cattle in the Tom Miner Basin in March, and in the Taylor Fork drainage in August. Project personnel erected a fladry line around the calving pasture in the Tom Miner area during calving time. The landowners were trained in nonlethal techniques and given less-than-lethal munitions to harass wolves. There were no more problems during the 2 months the cattle remained in the pasture, although wolves were seen in the area. In the Taylor Fork area, wolves harassed cattle on a USFS allotment. The rider was issued cracker shells and successfully harassed wolves on several occasions. The radio collared alpha female, #327F, and 5 other pack members were observed with severe mange. On November 19, an adult ewe was confirmed killed by wolves in the Tom Miner area and the Chief Joseph Pack was implicated. No control actions were initiated. Two radio collared wolves remained in this pack.

Mange is the legacy of the state of Montana's early day attempts to wage biological warfare against wolves. The mite was deliberately introduced. It didn't eliminate the Montana wolf population (that took poison), but it weakens them and hurts wolf recovery today. The presence of infestations and diseases shows the wisdom of restoring wolves (and other endangered species) in a number of areas. It's the old saying, "don't put all your eggs in one basket."

So far no mange has been reported among Idaho wolves, full time YNP wolves, or Wyoming wolves south of YNP.