One of Yellowstone's most famous wolves has been illegally shot dead in the Sunlight Basin area east of the Park. The killing took place on March 4. The person who killed the 125 pound white wolf turned himself in, saying he thought it was a coyote. Charges are pending.
I learned about this on March 7 when I got a tip, but withheld reporting the story so not to jeopardize the investigation. I don't have all the facts about the shooting, but I think the concern now should be that a strong penalty be sought if the mistaken identity excuse is not a plausible excuse.
Number 39 was renowned as the original alpha female of the Druid Peak Pack. However, she was displaced in the pack, yet acted as the aunt, caring for many of the Druid's pups in the summer of 1997.
As the only white wolf in Idaho or Yellowstone, she was frequently seen in the Lamar Valley, although she wandered over all of the northern part of Yellowstone, and northward beyond the Park, even into the Crazy Mountains. I would estimate that perhaps ten thousand people saw her at one time or the other.
Due to her unique beauty many folks fervently hoped she would find a mate. It appeared that she had done so when she seemed to pair with no. 52M, who dispersed this fall from the Rose Creek Pack. It isn't clear whether she was competing with former Druid wolf 41F to mate with no. 52, or whether all three went to Sunlight Basin. At last report number 52 and 41 were still in the Sunlight Basin area, one of the most beautiful mountain valleys in the West.
So far two people have been prosecuted for illegally killing wolves in the Yellowstone country -- Chad McKittrick and Jay York.
McKittrick killed "Big Guy", wolf no. 10, the first alpha of the Rose Creek Pack as his mate was whelping here litter of eight on Mount Maurice above the town of Red Lodge. McKittrick eventually received a fairly severe sentence.
Jay York shot wolf 11F, a dispersing female from the Soda Butte Pack in the Spring of 1996 near Meeteetse, Wyoming. York was working for the Deseret Ranch and was killing coyotes when he shot no. 11 by mistake. Because he turned himself in, because no one know wolves were in the area, and the general cooperativeness of the ranch, York was only fined $500. Story on York (4-23-96).
In the case of the White Wolf, folks in the Sunlight Basin area had been told wolves frequented the area. In fact the Basin is not far from where the illegal killings of nos. 31M and 38M of the Druid Peak Pack recently took place. Number 39 did not look like a coyote and was three times the size of all but the biggest coyotes.
Sunlight Basin (right center). Absaroka Mountains. Photo is
looking toward the west from Dead Indian Hill. Yellowstone
National Park is beyond the horizon. © Ralph MaughanNumerous wolves have been illegally killed in the Yellowstone Country (unlike in Idaho). I am increasingly of the view that Yellowstone Park itself is not large enough to support a recovered population of wolves (ten packs). The prey base is sufficient, but increasing interpack fighting indicates that wolves may not tolerate many more packs even if there is sufficient prey.
Failure to catch and punish Yellowstone Country wolf killers only encourages more. I understand that Mr. York, down in Meeteetse, has on more than one occasion introduced himself as the "man who smoked the wolf" -- hardly an attitude that will deter those who would shoot a wolf.
In Wyoming, if you shoot a moose and say you thought it was a deer, the judge will not be impressed.
Let us hope the U.S.attorney presses strong charges. A friend looked up the number of the U.S. attorney's office in Casper, Wyoming. It is 307-261-5434. Let's hope this case is treated on its merits, not the "good 'ol boy and gal" politics of Wyoming.
Update:
I still don't know who killed no. 39; but Doug Smith has clarified the order of events that brought 39 to the Sunlight Basin.
I have written a number of updates (as have others) about how no. 41F and 39F had left, or perhaps had been expelled from the Druid Peak Pack. Both had been considered to be the alpha females of the pack at one time or the other. There was also speculation that the three might get together and form a pack of their own.
Smith, head of the Yellowstone wolf team, believes that no. 41 was the first Druid to disperse over the crest of the Absaroka and out of the Park to the east. The rest of the pack followed her scent trail toward Sunlight Basin, but were ambushed by a renegade hunter or hunters in Crandall Creek while on their way to Sunlight.
Since that time, no. 41 has crossed from Sunlight back to the Lamar several times. The White Wolf and 52M ("Humpy" as Nathan Varley calls him), met and paired in the Lamar, and migrated to Sunlight. Number 41 was already in Sunlight when no. 39F and 52M arrived. Thirty-nine, however, was soon shot; and since that time 52 has generally been with 41.
Was 39 carrying pups? This is a big question, and a controversial one. I doubt this information is known, or if it is, that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will release it.
Have 41 and 52 mated? It is likely they have, although 41 would have been nearing the end of her estrus. There is a possibility that we will yet see pups in May, despite the action of the still unnamed wolf killer.
Note on 3-26, the Cody Enterprise ran a brief story on the killing. The assistant U.S. attorney was reported as saying the dead wolf was found in the Clarks Fork area. This could include Sunlight Basin, the canyon of the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone and the benches and ridges around it. I don't think the article adds any new information. I was unable to get anyone to tell me exactly where the wolf was shot.
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