Here is the latest news I've gathered about the Park wolves. Most of the information comes courtesy of Yellowstone National Park (Deb Guernsey) and naturalist Jim Halfpenny. I posted the article on April 2, but then got a bit more information. This is a revision of the article of 4-2, which I have deleted.
The Rose Creek and Druid Peak Packs were, as they usually are, in the general Lamar Valley area. From my discussion with Kevin Sanders and Deb Guernsey, it appears that the two packs had another territorial dispute last week. This time no wolves died in the conflict. Folks may recall their battle of last June. Description of the June 1996 fight
The current size of the Rose Creek pack is about eight wolves. No. 16F dispersed, as did either 18F or 23M (which one is not known because neither wore a radio collar). No. 17F may be in the process of dispersal.
The Soda Butte Pack lost its alpha male, "Old Blue", no. 13M, two weeks ago (see my update of March 25). The rest of the pack remain in the backcountry near snowbound Heart Lake. The pack consists of the adult female, no. 14F, from the "class of 1995;" her pup, no. 24F, born in May 1995; and her two pups, nos. 43M and 44F, born on the Beartooth Front in May 1996. I should add that no. 24F is now almost two years old (almost an adult wolf).
"Old Blue" was perhaps the first of the Yellowstone wolves that could be said to have died of old age. He was always a timid wolf in the presence of humans, and it took some time to discern that he was the alpha male.
The five-membered Leopold Pack was as usual on the Blacktail Deer Plateau. This pack consists of the alpha pair -- nos. 2M and 7F -- and three pups (two gray; one black). The black pup is no. 56. Nos. 54 and 55 are the gray ones. Their sex is not known.
The constantly-changing Chief Joseph Pack has changed some more. No. 34M is still with no. 16F (born to R9F of the Rose Creek pack back in May 1995). No. 17F, also of the Rose Creek Pack, did apparently again rejoin this pair, but as of April 3 she was alone again near Mammoth Hot Springs.
No. 33F, a sometimes member of the Chief Joseph Pack, was most recently located with no. 29M, the nearly adult offspring of 27F. 29M had been inside the Nez Perce pen with all of the Sawtooth Pack pups, his mother, and his sister, no. 37F. A few weeks ago, he escaped from the pen, but hung around. In mid-March, eight of the Sawtooth Pack pups were released and it was thought he would remain with them, having been with them in a pen for about eight months. Therefore, his presence with no. 33F is perhaps a bit surprising, but she is an adult wolf. Nos. 33 and 29 were located on April 3 in the general vicinity of Nez Perce Creek.
The eight pups, now almost a year old, which I will continue to call the Sawtooth Pack for lack of a better name, gradually moved northward from their release point near Nez Perce Creek near the Lower Geyser Basin. A few days ago, they were seen near Roaring Mountain in the NW central part of Yellowstone and this morning they were on the slopes of Mt. Everts in the NW part of the Park in the Gallatin mountain range. Jim Halfpenny tells me that they may have been videoed near Roaring Mountain by some folks. One of the pups, no. 69M (gray) has remained behind and is in the general vicinity of the Nez Perce Creek enclosure, which still holds five wolves.
Because the seven wolves that have moved to the north are all just under a year old, with no adult wolf with them, it will be interesting to see how they fare at hunting, although at present there is ample winter-killed bison and elk in the Park for them to eat.
The remaining two wolves in the Crystal Creek Pack, 5F and 6M, were located to the north of the Pelican Valley, generally where they have been all winter. This is a remote location.
Pair no. 35M and 30F remained, as they have been for a month, near Beaver Dam Creek where the Yellowstone River runs into Yellowstone Lake's Southeast Arm. This is an extremely remote location. This pair has been in this general deep wilderness location since about last September.
Pair no 15M and 26F remained, as they have for months, NE of Dubois, Wyoming, near the East Fork of the Wind River on the edge of the Washakie Wilderness. Folks may recall that no. 15 was one of the original members of the Soda Butte Pack, but he escaped capture last summer when the Pack was removed from the Beartooth Front. He was captured later, penned separately, and met no. 26 upon his release last September.
Wolves not located were uncollared wolves 18F, 23M, and 49 and 50. The latter two are offspring of no. 27F from last May. Nos. 49 and 50 could not be captured and their present location is not known. They may or may not remain on the Beartooth Front. They were possibly seen with no. 39F near Springdale, Montana in mid-December.
Springdale is on the Yellowstone River about 20 miles east of Livingston, Montana, and just north of the north boundary of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Their brother, 48M, remains with his mother and older halfsister, no. 37F, in the Nez Perce pen awaiting release.
The "Silver Wolf", no. 39F, who used to be part of the Druid Peak Pack, has a radio collar, but could not be located in early April. She has wandered very widely since she dispersed from the Druid Peak Pack last summer, spending some time far north of the Park in central Montana. Last month she did return, at least for a while, to the Lamar Valley, but her location is now unknown.
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© 1997 Ralph Maughan
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