Surprise! Slough Creek Alpha female, 217F, killed by her own pack

Surprise!
Slough Creek Alpha female, 217F, was probably killed by her own pack

1-22-2004

The initial assumption was that 217F had been pushed off the cliff by the bull elk, slipped, or pushed by other wolves in the violence surrounding the kill. It now appears otherwise.
Dan Stahler and Doug Smith of the Yellowstone wolf team skied into the Buffalo Fork to retrieve her carcass. Under her carcass, which was frozen and against a tree, was a pool of blood, and the injuries and blood on her body were entirely inconsistent with a fall or being killed by a elk. These usually leave few external marks. Because she was frozen, examination of internal injuries could not be made.
Nearby too were numerous wolf tracks, almost certainly those of the Slough Creek Pack. No other wolf packs had been observed near the area despite a current tracking flight.
Dan Stahler told me that Rick McIntyre and others had seen some indications that she had lost her status to an uncollared black female. This black female wolf has not been collared in the recent successfully radio collaring of 4 of the pack's wolves.
Intrapack killing of this kind is uncommon. The only other known instance among the Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana populations was the famous fratricide of Druid alpha 40F, probably by her sister 42F and one or more of her daughters.
Wolf 261M, the pack's founder (along with 217F),formerly of Mollie's Pack, remains the alpha male.

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Ralph Maughan PO Box 8264, Pocatello, ID 83209