I have received the following interesting information about the capture of a canid, very possibly a wolf, which was not part of the Yellowstone reintroduction. She was captured on the southwest side of the Wind River Mountains about 125 miles south of Yellowstone National Park. I do not believe this is the "unknown" wolf that has been seen near Dubois, Wyoming near the pair R15M and R26F.

The way the rancher (Bill Mayo) captured the wolf was most impressive.
Mayo runs about 1000 sheep in the area (his ranch). He reported the animal had killed about eight ewes in the last week.

A grey 75-pound female canid, to all appearances a wolf, was roped from a snowmobile by the rancher, an expert roper, who had lost several sheep to her. He got her into a horse trailer and called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who brought her to Yellowstone, where she's being held in the Rose Creek pen.

Because she was captured near Big Sandy, on the southwest side of the Wind River Range, she's being referred to as the Big Sandy wolf. A blood sample was taken, so taxonomic work can be done, to establish, if possible, any identified group of wolves to which she may be related.

Her behavior will be observed and recorded, to be sure she is not a released pet. If she passes her taxonomic and behavioral tests, she will be released in the park sometime later.

Tooth wear indicates she was probably born in 1993 or 1994. She has one strike (depredation) against her, so if she gets into livestock again, she will be removed from the population.

Note added in 1998. "Sandy" turned out to be a wolf. Genetic testing indicated her origin as unknown. She was never released to the wild for reasons that are unclear to me. She was shipped to the North American Wolf Association facility in Texas where she lived for a year then died.