Original reintroductions to Yellowstone are now dead, but several live on in Idaho.
2-19-2004
The deaths of 41 and 42F made regional and national stories because these sisters were the last two wolves brought from Canada to help restore the Greater Yellowstone population.
Idaho wolves don't get as much attention, but at least 2 and maybe more of the original reintroduced wolves live on in central Idaho.
Talking with Jim Holyan of the Nez Perce Tribal Wolf Recovery Team I learned they very recently they picked up radio signals from both B7M, one of the founders of the Big Hole Pack and also of B5M, a founder of the Selway Pack. Both B7's mate, B11F and B5's mate, B10F might still be alive too. There may be more. The 4 just mentioned are not just remnants of the reintroduction, they are from the first wave -- the 1995 reintroduction. More than half of the Idaho wolves came in the 1996 batch.
Ironically wolf B2M who was becoming a minor wolf celebrity due to his estimated age of about 14 years was just picked up (actually his radio collar picked up) in "mortality mode". A team has not yet reached him to see if he is really dead. Last spring he found a young female wolf. They had 4 pups (his second pack), and it was named the "Castle Peak Pack" in the East Fork of the Salmon River drainage area.
It's hard to say why the Idaho wolves have lived longer. Perhaps Idaho is a safer place for wolves. The hypothesis I favor in the absence of additional data is that the differing longevity is due to chance.
Note:
While wolves are given numbers like 21M as shorthand, Yellowstone-derived wolves are all prefixed with an "R" and Idaho wolves a "B." Therefore, the Druid alpha male is actually R21M.
Over a year ago there was a lot of media attention when the Yellowstone Leopold Pack founder R2M was killed by other wolves. I wonder if they will do a story on the much older B2M? A recent USA Today story that quoted me did mention B2M.
Copyright © 2004 Ralph Maughan
Return to Ralph Maughan's wolf reports.
Not to be reprinted, archived, redistributed, etc., without permission.
Ralph Maughan PO Box 8264, Pocatello, ID 83209