Yellowstone Wolf Update: A New Park Pack
9-2-99, and updates 9-18 and 9-27

Here is the latest news on the wolves that inhabit Yellowstone National Park and overlapping areas.  This report excludes the Sunlight Pack, Teton Pack, and Gros Ventre Pack.

• 78F's Pack. Big news is that no. 78F from the Rose Creek Pack, who whelped 3 pups last spring, was probably not bred by no. 8M, the Rose Creek alpha; but rather by an uncollared gray male, probably from another pack (Leopold?). At any rate, no. 78, her three pups, and her adult companion, have not joined with the rest of Rose Creek, but have remained apart.  So it's probably safe to say this is a new pack of five members. Added on 9-27. No. 78F has at least five pups.

• It still looks like the Nez Perce Pack and the Crystal Creek pack had just one pup each last spring.  The alpha female of the Nez Perce Pack is no. 48F and the alpha male is either no. 70M or 72M. Update 9-18-99: The Nez Perce Pack is hard to observe, but finally 7 months after their birth, five pups have been observed with the Nez Perce Pack.  Update 9-27-99. Wolf 92M of the pack, born in 1997, the son of the former alpha male 29M and his late sister 39F, has not been observed for some time, and he may have dispersed.

The Crystal Creek Pack has been ranging very widely in a fashion atypical of packs with a number of pups.  A week or so ago they were considerably east of the Park in Jones Creek (North Absaroka Wilderness, Wyoming). Now, however, they are near the center of the Park at Sour Creek. No. 5F is the alpha female. The alpha male is unknown.

• Twenty-five domestic sheep were killed several weeks ago about 10 miles north of the Park in the Absaroka/Beartooth Wilderness of Montana. It is confirmed that 16 of the sheep were killed by grizzly bears.  It is not known how the other nine were killed, but it is possible the Rose Creek Pack was in the area. This is farther north than their normal summer range. The surviving sheep have been removed from the area.
   
• The Soda Butte Pack continues to roam the southern boundary of the Park.   Interestingly, 104M, who originated with the Druid Peak Pack in 1997; and later became the alpha male of the Crystal Creek Pack, only to be displaced, has been located near the Soda Butte Pack.  It would be quite a story if Soda Butte alpha female 14F finally found a new mate in 104M.  Her original mate 13M, "Old Blue," died in the late winter of 1997; and she has not had pups since the spring of 1997. Presently 104M and Soda Butte are about five miles apart.
   
• Wolf watching was a bit slow this summer because the NE Entrance road was under serious construction, limiting viewing opportunities of the Druid Peak Pack.   At present the pack has been favoring the top and backside of Specimen Ridge and has not been frequently seen. The Druids had a litter of 6 pups last spring. This is their largest litter so far. One of the pups was observed by folks to have been left behind at the rendezvous site. The alpha male, no. 21M, was also seen interacting with the pup in what seemed a hostile manner.   I do understand, however, that this pup is now with the rest of the pack. Update 9-27. Only three of the six pups have been seen by ground crews lately (1 black and 2 gray). This doesn't mean the others are dead. They just haven't been seen.
   
• Apparently the color of black wolves fades as they age.  Doug Smith, head of the Yellowstone wolf team told me that famous no. 9F of the Rose Creek Pack, a largely black wolf when brought from Alberta, is now about the same grayish-blue color as "Old Blue." Her black daughters, no. 16F and 18F, are now about the color their mother was back in 1995.
• Update on 9-27-99. Wolf 115F of the Chief Joseph Pack may have dispersed. She has been by herself since mid-July.
• In research news, a proposal is being made to study the effects of the elk hunt on Yellowstone carnivores.  During the elk hunt, hundreds of piles of viscera are left.  It is well known that grizzly bears are attracted by these gut piles.  Rumor has it that when a Park grizzly hears a rifle shot during hunting season, the grizzly leaves the park and soon claims the gut pile (or the elk) if the hunters are slow.
   

  A possible research program would test this hypothesis.  Indeed, other Park area carnivores are probably influenced by the hunt and by each others' response to the hunt, so the study would include grizzlies, wolves, and mountain lion interactions with the remains of the hunt and each other.

  Hunting is not allowed inside Yellowstone National Park, but all the adjacent areas have elk hunts.  Of course, wolves, bears, and lions, as well as their prey, range across the national park boundaries.

Return To Maughan Wolf Report Page

Copyright ©1999 Ralph Maughan
Not to be reprinted, archived, redistributed, etc., without permission.

Ralph Maughan PO Box 8264, Pocatello, ID 83209