Yellowstone wolf update:
Chief Joesph One at Hebgen Lake. Three extra gray wolves in Chief Joseph Two

3-17-99, update 3-24

A flight to locate the Yellowstone wolves was made today.  All of the packs were in their usual location, except Chief Joseph no. 1, which had not been located for several weeks. The pack was finally found at Rainbow Point near Hebgen Lake just NW of West Yellowstone. They haven't been there for a long time. Collared sub-adult 147M from that pack was not with the rest, and was not located.

A recent flight found the Chief Joseph 2 Pack, which will soon be given a real name, consisted of 5 blacks and 5 grays. In February it was 5 blacks and 2 grays, including 4 pups. Both of the grays were pups.  The pack then included a new wolf, a disperser from Crystal Creek, no. 118M, and the thought-to-be alpha male, 165M (or is he just a huge pup?). Where did the three new uncollared grays come from?

Today no. 16F, the alpha female, was located with just one pup near her den site.  Pregnant wolves will start digging dens or restricting their movements between now and mid-April. Because she was near the den site doesn't necessarily mean she is getting ready to den.

(3-24) The Sunlight Pair (haven't mentioned them for a while) was seen near a cattle depredation in a remote location near Sunlight Basin. Fortunately for them, an examination of the carcass indicated coyotes killed the 2-day-old calf.  The Sunlight Pair, which consists of a disperser from the Rose Creek Pack and a former member of Druid Peak Pack are expected to produce a litter of pups in April.

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