Wolves now denning

Now is the time of the year that wolves in the Rocky Mountains dig dens (often several of them) for the pups soon to be born (late April through May)

In 1995, a year when biologists expected no wolf pups to be born, there were nine pups -- eight to the Rose Creek female no. 9, and one to no. 14 of the Soda Butte Pack. As expected the Idaho wolves produced no pups.

Biologists thought 1996 would be a big year for pups. While they did not express disappointment, I believe they were. The numbers were less than predicted, although much of this was due to the freak death of no. 36, who was carrying six pups when she was scalded to death by a Yellowstone hot spring.

Yellowstone pups in 1996

Rose Creek Pack:
Number 9 again gave birth. She gave birth to eight in 1995 and three more in 1996 (nos. 51, 52, and 53). The father of the pups of 1995 was no. 10 (shot in April 1995). The father of the three, 1996 pups is no. 8.

Soda Butte Pack:
No. 14 gave birth to one pup in 1995 (no. 24F). This was no. 14's first birth. In 1996 she gave birth to three pups (nos. 43M, 44F, and 45F). The presumed father of all of her pups was no. 13, "Old Blue", who recently died a natural death (old age?). Nos. 24, 43, and 44 are still with her. They are the Soda Butte Pack. No. 45 died of natural causes while in the Trail Creek pen last September.

Leopold Pack:
No. 7 (no. 9's daughter, who was captured with no. 9 in Alberta) paired with no. 2 from the Crystal Creek Pack). They had three pups -- nos. 54, 55, and 56. Throughout the entire history of the pack they have remained on or near the Blacktail Deer Plateau. The three pups were no. 7's first litter.

The Nez Perce female no. 27:
No. 27 and her mate, no. 28, and four of their pups (the Half Way pack) were captured in British Columbia. The pack splintered upon release, but nos. 27 and 28 had mated. No. 27 gave birth to five pups while by herself on the Beartooth Front, north of the Yellowstone Park. This was the largest litter in 1996 -- nos. 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50. Four of her pups are presumed to still be alive -- all except no. 47, who was hit by a vehicle in September 1996. Number 46's leg, however, had to be amputated after capture in a leg hold trap set for no. 27. Forty-six is in a facility in Minnesota. No. 48M is with his mother in the Nez Perce enclosure. Nos. 49 and 50 (their sex is not known and they are uncollared) are thought to be north of the Park, but their whereabouts is not known.

Idaho wolves in 1996

The total number of pups born to Idaho wolves in 1996 has never been determined. Assuming all packs with pups were located, the number of pups born was 8 to 10 (to three packs).

Two pups were born to the Landmark Pack which inhabits the southern boundary of Idaho's Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness. More than on pup was born to the Selway Pack which inhabits the upper reaches of the Selway River on the Idaho/Montana border. The Chamberlain Pack probably had four pups. This pack inhabits the remote wilderness in the Frank Church's Chamberlain Basin and Big Creek, a long wilderness river.

Failing radio collars makes reports on the Idaho wolves more and more difficult to obtain.

What about 1997?

Yellowstone area -- the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Rose Creek Pack:
Number 9, now so prolific, she has been nicknamed "mom", has been observed digging another den. The alpha pair nos. 8 and 9 were been observed mating. Yearlings nos. 19F and 21M in the pack have also been observed mating. No. 16F dispersed and mated with no. 34M. No. 17 dispersed and may have mated with no. 34M. No. 18 may have dispersed (it may be No. 23M that dispersed). If 18 dispersed, she may have mated. Things are unclear about the location of 18 and 23 because one has dispersed, but neither wear radio collars.

Soda Butte Pack:
Unless no. 14 mated with Old Blue before he died, and assuming he was still fertile, this pack will have no new pups in 1997.

Leopold Pack:
There is every reason to believe that no. 7 will have another litter -- her second. Other things being equal, second litters are usually larger than a wolf's first litter.

No. 27:
Being the entire summer with her pups and then, finally captured and put in the pen with the Sawtooth pups and three of her offspring, No. 27 has probably not mated.

Druid Peak Pack:
Released in 1996, this pack produced no pups, but they are now well fed and well situated to have them this year. Number 40 is thought to be the alpha female and number 38 is the alpha male. The pack has three other members. The alpha male, no. 38, has been observed mating will all three females in the pack. More than one may bear pups. Tracks of a lone female, perhaps looking for a den were also observed by Jim Halfpenny NE of Soda Butte. This is in Druid Peak's territory. Is this one of the females in the Druid Peak Pack? Is this no. 39F, or perhaps 18F which may have dispersed from the Rose Creek Pack? Still another possibility is no. 17F from the Rose Creek Pack which did accompany her sister, no. 16, with no. 34M for a while.

All these wolves and possible pups up in the NE corner of the Park ought to prove "interesting." Recall the several territorial battles Druid Peak has had with Crystal Creek and Rose Creek.

Chief Joseph Pack:
This pack has recently consisted of a pair no. 34M, and no. 16F (one of no. 9's pups from 1995). No. 34 has been with no. 16 most of the time since late January or early February. No. 34 and 16 were observed mating.

Crystal Creek Pack:
This one mighty pack was reduced to just a pair, no. 5F and no. 6M (her son) since the alpha male, no. 4, was killed by the Druid Peak Pack last summer. No. 5 bore no pups in 1995. She seems to have denned in 1996, but no pups were observed. There is some speculation that any pups were killed by Druid Peak. No. 5, herself appeared to have been injured by Druid Peak. It is not likely there will be pups from the Crystal Creek Pack. I understand that it is not rare for a mother and offspring to mate in the absence of other opportunities.

Lone Star Pack:
No. 35M successfully mated inside the Blacktail Deer pen with ill-fated no. 36 after arriving from Canada in 1996. As mentioned no. 36 died of burns carrying six pups. No. 35, however, has been paired for about eight months with no. 30, a daughter of no. 27, born in British Columbia. No. 35 may see the pups that escaped him last spring.

Pair 15M and 26F:
Number 15 was a subordinate male in the Soda Butte Pack, but was separated from them due to failure to capture him when the Soda Butte Pack was re-captured late last spring (bad pack location). He was eventually captured, put in a pen with pup 47M. Upon release he paired with no. 26, another daughter of no. 27, born in British Columbia. This pair migrated far to the SE and has spent the autumn and winter NE of Dubois, Wyoming in the foothills of the Absaroka Range near the Washakie Wilderness.

Other Yellowstone wolves:
The rest of the wolves in the Yellowstone area are either too young, are siblings, or are apparently lone wolves, although there is a possibility that adult females no. 39 (formerly of the Druid Peak Pack) and no. 33 (a sometimes member of the Chief Joseph Pack) may have mated. No. 39 explores far from Yellowstone. If she has pups, it may not be known. Apparently a number of the Rose Creek yearlings were not too young to mate. One female yearling mated with another in this large pack -- 19F and 21M.

How many pups in total?
If we assume a 90% probability that Rose Creek, Druid Peak, and Leopold each will have pups (average is about six), let us assume 16 pups. I will assume that Druid Peak will have two litters of pups, totaling eight. I will change the pups total from these three packs to 24.

If we assume a 75% probability for the Lone Star pair and the pair of no. 15 and 26, and an average of three pups (it would be the first litter for the female), that is 2-3 pups.

If we assume a 50% probability that no. 14F and "Old Blue" (Soda Butte Pack) mated successfully, this is a prediction of 50% x six pups -- three pups.

If we assume a 50% probably for the no. 34 and no. 16 (first litter for the female), that is 1-2 pups.

If we assume a 10% change for no. 27F, and of her daughter 37F both still in the Nez Perce pen, that is one pup.

Let us assume a 10% of a litter from other female wolves of reproductive age.That yields an expectation of one pup. I will change this to a 50% probability. That is one or two pups.

My guess then is 26-28 pups. Remember there were 9 in 1995 and 14 in 1996. My new estimate is is 34-37 pups.

Idaho
Although reports on Idaho wolves are occasional and spotty, the wolves appear to be doing very well with a lower mortality rate than in Yellowstone. The lower mortality is because of fewer human killings. In fact there appear to be more male/female pairs + packs of reproductive age than in Yellowstone. This is a wild guess, I would say 35 pups (but the actual number will probably never be counted because our 1996 total is just an estimate).

I have heard predictions that the number of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone area and/or in central Idaho will top 100 in 1998 or 99. Perhaps this will be so, but motality and reproduction fluctuations as a percentage of the total population tend to be greater in small populations due soley to "randome events." The population in 1999 could easily be greater or considerably less than one hundred.

At the present time, the large majority of wolves in both central Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem stem from capture in Alberta and British Columbia.

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