Wyoming wolf update

Two wolves "controlled," Daniel Pack in safe area, Teton Pack romps

2-2-2004

My last update on Wyoming wolves outside Yellowstone Park was mid-December. I got much of this from indefatigable USFWS manager Mike Jimenez by mobile phone as he was driving out of the Gros Ventre. Other info came from the Gray Wolf Status Report, and the YNP wolf team Dan Stahler and Doug Smith. The speculations, rants, and aspersions are my own.

Jimenez said the elk this winter are very visible and more spread out than usual despite deep snow.  Elk are on the state feedgrounds and the National Elk Refuge but a lot are "wintering out." My view is that elk wintering out is always good news given the brucellosis problem associated with the elk feedgrounds and the much lower infection rate for elk that don't go to them.

The Teton Pack is in good shape with 8 to 11 members. The pack had up to 23 members beginning the winter of 2002-3. The rest dispersed mostly to the south and southeast ending up around Pinedale, Daniel, and all the way to the Utah border before being killed. Some are probably still migrating toward Colorado and with luck might already be there.

Mike's team recently captured 4 of the pack. The alpha female 228F was recollared, and 3 pups, one male pup and two female. The male pups weighed 94 and 95 pounds respectively and the female pup was 85 pounds. The pack appears healthy -- no mange on the west side of the Continental Divide.

As usual the Teton Pack has been attending the Gros Ventre River feedgrounds somewhat, but this year they have spent more time preying on the elk that are wintering out, and the pack has ranged farther north -- all the way to the Blackrock meadows area below Togwotee Pass.

To the south, the Daniel Pack, which was unknown until mid 2003, moved out of their vulnerable (to humans) area near Ryegrass road (SW of Daniel, WY) and are wintering far back in the mountains to the west.

Across the Upper Green River Basin, a group of 4 wolves killed some cattle near Cora, north of Pinedale. This is in area between two elk feedgrounds where brucellosis has probably been transmitted from elk to cattle, which will probably cause Wyoming to lose its "brucellosis free" status. After several weeks of trying not to disturb the elk,  federal agents killed 2 wolves. One was former Nez Perce (central Yellowstone) wolf 214M. The other dead wolf and the remaining 2 are probably Teton Pack dispersers. I'm unsure how many cattle were killed because at least one reported dead was, according to the Gray Wolf Status Report, not killed by wolves.

The Green River Pack (now pair) status is not certain. Jimenez sees the alpha female 237F, but has not seen her possible newest mate lately. He is old 72M, possible founder of the Nez Perce Pack in Yellowstone.

The Washakie Pack is in its usual location ranging from the East Fork of the Dunoir eastward across Horse Creek and into the Wiggins Fork along the southern end of the Absaroka Range. Jimenez said their winter prey base for the Washakie wolves appear to be very numerous.

The Park's Yellowstone Delta Pack has been mostly south of the Park inside the Teton Wilderness, living off of elk and moose. This location has precluded capture of the wolves for radio-collaring (aircraft cannot legally land inside designated wilderness areas or fly lower than 2000 feet, with some exceptions).

The Pack's Bechler Pack has also tended to move a bit south of the Park into the area west of Flagg Ranch in the Rockefeller Parkway.

Mollie's Pack, from the Park, has as usual moved out of the deep snow Pelican Valley to follow the deer and elk wintering in the vicinity of the North Fork of the Shoshone, just east of the Park., but Mollies Pack was back in Yellowstone in the Pelican Valley on Jan. 29 and near Specimen Ridge on Feb. 1 where they probably killed 42F.

The Greybull River Pack of 5-7 wolves has lost all of its radio collars after the illegal killing of its collared alpha male -- the founder wolf from Idaho. The Greybull pack recently killed a few cattle in the Meeteetse, Wyoming area and a total of six cattle over the last year or so. Thinking about things, this loss of cattle in part because the radio-collared wolf was poached seems sort of like rough justice.

The new Carter Mountain pair is doing well with plenty of prey around.

The mangy Absaroka Pack has lost all of its radio collars, through death, and while they still persist, their status is not known.

The mangy Sunlight Basin Pack, now probably the most radio-collared pack in Wyoming, still has not had any winter mortalities, including the old Druid sister 41F. One member of the pack, 231M dispersed to the nearby Beartooth Pack, which Jimenez doesn't think is mangy.

Finally the new Thermopolis or "Owl Creek" trio is doing fine.

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  Copyright © 2004  Ralph Maughan

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