The current population status report for Yellowstone wolves has been released. I have taken their raw numbers and rearranged them below. I have also added my comments and interpretations.

Rose Creek Pack
     This pack had three pregnancies resulting in 18 pups! Famous wolf no. 9, the alpha female, had six pups, one of which was recently found dead. Their numbers are 85 through 90.  Second year female no. 19 had four pups, all of which died of exposure and malnutrition after number 19 was killed by other wolves, probably the Druid Peak Pack. Finally, second year female no. 18 had nine pups, all of which are thought to be alive. Her pups are numbered 77 through 84, with one yet unnumbered.

     The pack has moved to the high country on the Buffalo Plateau on the north boundary of the Park and is no longer visible to visitors. The pack presently numbers 21 wolves! Aerial observation indicates that the pack is not split into two groups (one around no. 9 and another number 18). They appear to all be together. The adults are nos. 8M and 9F, the alphas; number 21M (a brother from the now famous litter no. 18 was born to in 1995); number 18F, and numbers 51, 52, and 53 (no. 9's pups from last year, now yearlings).

Druid Peak Pack
    Five pups have been observed from this pack, the only wolves now commonly visible to tourists in the Lamar Valley/Soda Butte Creek area. Two of the females were thought to have denned and the alpha male, no. 38,  was observed mating with all three of the females -- nos. 40F, 41F, and 42F. Wolves 41F and 42F are the two that denned on Druid Peak. It is not known if the five pups represent one or two litters.  The pups are yet unnumbered

     This pack produced no pups in 1996, the year they were reintroduced.

     Number 38M is clearly the alpha male.  The pack social status of the three adult females is not known.  I should also add that the original alpha female, no. 39F, returned to the pack a few months ago after about eight months of extensive wandering. The final wolf in the pack is no. 31M, formerly a member of the Chief Joseph Pack. This pack pretty much splintered after its alpha female, no. 32F, was killed by a semi-truck on US 191 in 1996.

Crystal Creek Pack
     After two years of no luck, number 5F has finally produced at least one pup. The pup was observed from the air in the remote Pelican Valley location, no. 5 and no. 6M (her son?) now inhabit.  It is possible she had pups in 1996, but they were killed by the Druids, who killed her mate no. 4M and injured her. On the other hand, this pup may well be her first since she was brought from Alberta in 1995. Note: genetic analysis several years later determined 6M was not 5F's son.

Leopold Pack
     Number 7F (no. 9F's daughter born in Alberta) and number 2M have five new pups to complement the three they had last year. The new pups are numbered 95 through 99. Last litter, now yearlings, are number 54 and 55 (gray wolves) and number 56, a black wolf. Number 2M was originally brought from Alberta as part of the Crystal Creek Pack.

     This pack inhabits a corner of the Blacktail Deer Plateau and is rarely seen. I have tried to spot it about five times from nearby ridges but have failed.  A recent article in the New York Times speculates that the home range of this pack must be the smallest in North America. The article speculates that this is possible due to the incredible prey base that inhabits the Blacktail Deer Plateau.

Chief Joseph Pack
     This pack now has only one of its original four members, no. 34M, the alpha male. He mated with both no. 16F and 17F of the Rose Creek Pack (no. 9s daughters). Both females denned, but no pups have been observed yet. The two den areas were not located together, although both were in the NW corner of Yellowstone Park.  Recently No. 34M and 16F left the area and are presently located near Mt. Holmes, the most southerly mountain of the Gallatin Range. 

    Mt Holmes from the east.  © Ralph Maughan

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Are they with pups? It is not known whether either 16 or 17 had any. Addendum dated 7/13/97. I understand a flight has just confirmed one pup with number 17F.

Soda Butte Pack
     Number 14F, the alpha female, has borne her third litter since she was brought from Alberta in 1995. In 1995 she had one pup, number 24F, which is still with her. In 1996 she had three pups. Two of these are still alive. These two yearlings, number 43M and 44F are with her.  Now she has at least three more pups. They have no numbers yet.  All are located at Heart Lake in the Park's southern backcountry.
     The alpha male, number 13M, "Old Blue", is the father of the pups. He died near Heart Lake in March (see my article dated March 25, 1997). The cause of death was essentially old age, a rare type of mortality for wolves.

Thorofare Pack
     This pair, no. 35M (who lost his first mate to a hot spring in 1996) has been paired with no. 30F (from British Columbia) for a long time now in this most remote part of Yellowstone.  They are believed to have pups, but the Thorofare Country is hard to reach. The Thorofare is considered to be the upper Yellowstone River area near the SE corner of Yellowstone, Thorofare Creek (or "river" for those of us who have forded it), and the adjacent plateaus -- the Two Ocean Plateau, the Trident, and Thorofare Plateau.

Washakie Pack
     The pair of number 15M (formerly from the Soda Butte Pack and originally captured in Alberta in 1995) has been paired with no. 26F (introduced from B.C. in 1996) ever since last September. They have ranged along the southern boundary of the Washakie Wilderness since last fall, and so they have finally been given the name "Washakie Pack."

     They denned under the landmark Ramshorn Peak in the Absaroka Range in a hard to reach area. I tried to get in there two weeks ago, but it is too rough. They are thought to have pups but aerial flights have not been able spot pups. The area they are in, although far outside Yellowstone is full of elk, it is an elk calving area, and Wyoming Game and Fish has been trying to reduce the elk population in this hunting unit.  Perhaps the Washakie Pack can help.

Newly released wolves
     The final release of wolves from the Nez Perce Pen in June consisted of number 27F (a real survivor, in my opinion), her probable daughter born in B.C., number 37F; the three surviving of number 37's unexpected pups born in the pen, nos. 92M, 93M, and 94M; and two more of the Sawtooth yearlings, numbers 66M and 70M. It appears that the father of the pups, no. 29M is not with them, but is with number 33F, formerly of the Chief Joseph Pack. The pups are not radio-collared but they are thought to be with the other four wolves. The four have moved from the Nez Perce Creek/Lower Geyser Basin area across the Central Plateau to the prey-rich Hayden Valley.

Nez Perce Duo
     This is the temporary name of this pair -- no. 29M and 33F. Number 29 is the father of number 37F's pen-born pups, but he escaped from the pen before the pups were born.  These two are in the central region of Yellowstone Park.

The Sawtooth Yearlings
     There were originally ten of these pups, raised from September 1996 to March 1977 (and for two, June) in Park wolf enclosures. Three of the yearlings are known to be dead. Two were shot legally while they were attacking livestock outside the Park. One was killed by an M44 "Coyote Getter" near Ruby Reservoir about fifty miles NW of Yellowstone. Number 63F was located in July in the NW portion of Yellowstone. Numbers 66M and 70M are with 27, 37, 92, 93, and 94 in the Hayden Valley. The whereabouts of the rest is unknown, although they have radio collars. The rest are 63F, 65F, 67F, 68F, and 72M. 64F was legally shot. 69M was legally shot. 71F was accidentally killed by the M44.

Lone wolves or not monitorable yearlings or adult wolves
     Number 23M (another of no. 9's famous 1995 litter) dispersed from the Rose Creek pack. It cannot be monitored because it was never given a radio collar. It is a black two year old wolf.

     Numbers 48F, 49?, and 50? are from number 27F's 1996 litter. 48F has a collar but was not located. Despite many tries, number 49 and 50 could never be captured (note: it took months to capture their mother number 27F). They were last seen (possibly) near Springdale, Montana last December. Springdale is on the Yellowstone River on the northern edge of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

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© 1997 Ralph Maughan
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Ralph Maughan PO Box 8264; Pocatello, ID 83209