Some instability continues in Yellowstone wolf packs
Nov. 27, 2001,
There is still some instability in the Yellowstone wolf packs. I don't have the details on all of them, but the Druids are increasingly split into 2 groups and the Chief Joseph Pack may be coming apart.
Today's flight found one large group of Druids in Little America and the other near Hellroaring Creek, traditional territory of the Rose Creek Pack in recent years.
A visual count of 16 gray wolves of the Nez Perce Pack was made in Sentinel Creek on the Park's Central Plateau, but there are still local reports of some wolves (uncollared) in Conant Creek near the Idaho/Wyoming border.
The Chief Joseph Pack, stable since 1997, may be coming apart following the death this summer of its alpha female 33F on U.S. 191 in the Park. Some pack members have moved west to join with the Taylor Peaks Pack which is itself in turmoil after the alpha female left (or was booted) this fall. Number 34M, the long time Chief Joseph alpha male, is sometimes seen with 6 or 7 pack members, but also increasingly alone. There was speculation last spring that he would eventually be challenged by the pack's beta male. Today no. 34M was in the Duck Creek area north of West Yellowstone, where the Montana Department of Livestock will soon be chasing bison all over the place and generally molesting wildlife. The new Cougar Creek Pack was not far away today in that area, and on a kill.
Wolf Recovery Foundation Director Salle Englehardt observed the fresh tracks of a pair of wolves in the snow at Duck Creek on Thanksgiving. Wolf advocates need to begin monitoring the Montana DOL because they may become a threat to more than bison.
The Chief Joseph Pack has become hard to track. At this time last year 6 of its 13 members were radio-collared, but radio-collared 33F was killed, and 4 of the other collared wolves dispersed, leaving only 34M with a radio collar.
An island of stability has been Leopold Pack, which formed naturally in the winter of 1995-6. It is still led by wolves 2M and 7F and has about 10 members. Today it was on Mt. Everts just NE of Mammoth.
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