Yellowstone Wolves Update
Druids, Beartooth, Rose Creek, and Chief Joseph Packs

The Druid Peak pack remains the largest pack in all 3 recovery areas and including NW Montana. The pack numbered a whopping 38 members after the final pup count was confirmed this past summer. All 12 pups born in April to Alpha female #42 and female #103 have survived as have all 20 pups from 2000.

There have been a few dispersals since summer though, the latest being a gray male yearling. And surprisingly, female #105 may also have dispersed from the pack or was driven off. Several Park observers witnessed #105 being harshly disciplined by her sister, #103 and since that time #105 has been spending much of her time a few miles away from the rest of the pack.

Many observers believe that the pack may have splintered into three groups, including one with female #105 and a few wolves thought to be with her. Alpha male #21 is still very much in charge of the largest of the groups which includes Alpha female #42, female #103, female #106, many of last year's pups, now yearlings, and the 12 pups born in April.

As usual there really isn't too much news regarding the Rose Creek pack. The pack was recently renamed Rose Creek ll because of the ex-Rose Creek members who had been known as the Tower group.

The pack stays pretty much on the fringes of its original territory, which has been drastically reduced since the death of Alpha male #8, the dispersal of many members, and the tremendous growth of the Druid Peak pack. The wolves are rarely seen by biologists or wolf watchers due to their location.

Alpha female #18 and Alpha male #207 still head the pack and at least 6 of their 7 pups are alive and well. I'm told that female #18 looks very much like her mother (#9) with her once black fur now turning mostly silvery-gray.

The news on the breakaway Tower Group is that the 5 member pack had been renamed the Tower "Pack" even though no pups were born last spring and now the pack is no more. The 2 collared members of the defunct pack are on opposite sides of the Park and the other 3 members have likely gone their separate ways also.

I know everyone has been wondering about female #9 and the Beartooth pack and I do have a little news to report.

Mike Jimenez of the Wyoming U.S.F.W.S. has confirmed that the pack definitely has 3 pups. The mother of the pups is in all likelihood female #77, the granddaughter of female #9. This means that female #77 is the official Alpha of the pack. The origin of the big gray Alpha male is still unknown and may never be known unless he is eventually captured for collaring and a DNA study is performed.

This news also means that female #9's place in the pack is now tentative. If #9 remains with the pack her future role could eventually be reduced to that of Omega, the lowest ranking member of a pack. If this does happen the elderly matriarch will have to decide whether to stay on or strike out on her own once again. In either case female #9 may not have an easy road ahead of her.

There is also some very sad news concerning the Alpha pair from the long standing Chief Joseph pack. I haven't written much about this pack because I've tried to remain focused on the packs that are directly related to Wolf #10 and the Rose Creek pack, but the Chief Joseph pack has a bit of history with Rose Creek also.

In mid August 2001 female #33, the long-time alpha female of the Chief Joseph pack was struck and killed by a semi-truck on highway 191.

According to Doug Smith, Yellowstone wolf team leader, she was apparently hit by the truck during the night. She and other members of the pack had been feeding on a moose that had also been hit by a semi-truck. Smith said her body was so extensively damaged that it was virtually unrecognizable.

Female #33 was originally from British Columbia and was part of the 1996 reintroduction. She was released from the Nez Perce acclimation pen along with wolves 31M, 32F, and 34M in March 1996.

Female #32, who was the original Alpha of the pack and the mother of #33F, was struck and killed by a semi-truck on US 191 soon after the pack's release from the acclimation pen. Male #31 eventually dispersed and joined the Druid Peak Pack. He was murdered in late 1997 along with male #38, the original Alpha of the Druid Peak Pack.

That left just female #33 and male #34. But in January 1997 #34M left #33F and soon met and mated with two sisters (#16F and #17F) from the Rose Creek Pack.

In the summer of 1997 after female #17 was killed while chasing prey and then her sister #16F was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle, female #33 (who was never far away) moved in with #34M and together they raised #17's litter. The pair remained together ever since and #33F produced litters every year. She had her final litter of 7 pups last April.

Since the death of Alpha female #33 the pack had remained together, but Alpha male #34 had begun to wander, probably in search of a new mate. He was seen on several occasions by himself miles from the rest of the pack. Then on November 28, 2001 biologists received a mortality signal from the collar of Alpha male #34. His body was found that day.

For a while the cause of #34's death was unclear, but it was recently confirmed that his death was a result of first being seriously injured by an elk and then attacked and finished off by other wolves. The new Cougar pack, headed by a brother and sister from, ironically, the Rose Creek pack, was nearby on the day of his death.

Since the death of male #34 the rest of the pack have been seen together and as many as eleven members were recently visually tracked, but whether the remaining members will stay together is unknown. The pack has always been strong and consistent and it is probable that a new Alpha pair may soon emerge.