The Sawtooth Pack has continued to kill livestock on the Rocky Mountain Front near Augusta in northwest Montana. As a result, one more adult in pack has been shot and *six* more pups have been transferred to the Rose Creek enclosure in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. This is in addition to the four Sawtooth Pack pups transported to the Park on Aug. 29, 1996 after the pack's alpha female was shot by federal agents.The Sawtooth Pack now consists of two adults and four pups. Ten of its pups, (yes ten!) are now in the Rose Creek enclosure. The pups, 4 males and 6 females are not alone. They are in the Rose Creek enclosure with two large yearling wolves that were released last spring as part of the Nez Perce Pack -- nos. 29M and 37F. This pack, unfortunately, soon scat- tered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recaptured the above two members of the pack this summer in hopes of beginning a reunification of the pack. Efforts to recapture the Nez Perce Pack's original alpha female no. 27F, and her three remaining pups seem to have been abandoned for the year, and perhaps permanently. Interest may now focus on the hopeful new pack in Rose Creek.
The new pack will not remain in the Rose Creek enclosure, however. A new enclosure is being built in the Pelican Valley near Yellowstone Lake. This broad fertile valley is home to many bison, elk, and moose. It has so far been used only slightly by wolves (the Crystal Creek Pack in the summer of 1995).
However, there is some concern about feeding the wolves in the Pelican Valley enclosure. Unlike the Rose Creek and Crystal Creek Bench enclo- sures which are accessible by road in the winter, the Pelican Valley must be reached by snow coach or snowmobile. The carcasses come from West Yellowstone and Mammoth Hot Springs. These places are many snowmobile miles from the Pelican Valley.
The Sawtooth Pack may have been an example of too many pups. The ten pups came from a pack with just four adults and 14 pups, according to a recent article in the "Jackson Hole Guide". Biologists had hoped that by removing a number of the pups and sending them to Yellowstone where this spring's "crop" of wolf pups was somewhat disappointing, the result would be less pressure on the Sawtooth Pack's adult wolves to kill live- stock in order to feed the pack's many pups. Sharon Rose, spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the adult wolf from the Sawtooth Pack shot on Sept. 8 had injuries on her feet, which may have made chasing wild prey more difficult.
Copyright 1996 Ralph Maughan
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