Yellowstone Wolves Update And Spring Denning Report

It's been a while since my last update and I apologize for this. I know how many of you look forward to these updates and I will try to keep you informed now that denning season is upon us. Hopefully there will be a lot of good news to write about in contrast to all the disheartening news of the past several months.

That news involved a series of control actions in Yellowstone, NW Montana and Idaho that embroiled the entire reintroduction program in controversy.

There were upward of 400 e-mails alone sent to the office of Wolf Recovery Coordinator, Ed Bangs in protest of these control killings. Mr. Bangs also received letters and phone calls from people as far away as Europe and other parts of the world in protest of the killings.

Many conservation groups were outraged and deeply saddened by the recent rash of control killings. And in response to the total annihilation of a wolf pack in Idaho known as the Whitehawk pack, the Wolf Recovery Foundation pulled all its funding for radio-transmitting collars for the wolves.

The U.S.F.W.S has always maintained that the collars would help to "protect" the wolves, but in fact these collars continue to aid Wildlife Services in tracking and legally murdering far too many of them.

The first control action took place in NW Montana with a pack called the Ninemile pack. This pack had several of its members shot in response to a few llama depredations in early spring. The pack has occupied the Ninemile Valley near Missoula since 1990 (or before) and though they have gotten into minor trouble in the past it has been sporadic.

The Ninemile pack originated from wolves who naturally migrated from Canada back in the late 80's and at one point in 1993 were led by an Alpha female from Glacier National Park. There is a book called "The Ninemile Wolves" written by Richard Bass which traces the history of this long-standing pack.

An awful lot of people were extremely upset over this next control killing. A recently dispersed yearling from the Druid Peak pack, male #224, who was well known amongst wolf watchers, was shot and killed for taking part in a controversial depredation in the Paradise Valley.

The black yearling was part of the famous "litter of 21" born in 2000. He had just recently dispersed from his pack and joined up with the "new" Sheep Mountain pack.

The new Sheep Mountain pack consists of wolves from several different packs. Their only connection to the original pack is a litter of pups born last April that were sired by the last surviving "conditioned" son of the late Female #16 before Wildlife Services killed him. Three members of the Sheep Mtn. pack were killed along with Druid yearling #224 in that control action.

But the loudest outcries of protest by far were over the total annihilation of Idaho's Whitehawk pack". This pack was led by a beautiful creamy-white female who volunteers had named "Alabaster".

The pack had a history of minor depredations and when they got into trouble again many people joined forces in an attempt to save the remaining members, which included Alabaster, the pregnant Alpha female.

Volunteers even began a program which included guarding the sheep over the course of many nights in an effort to stop any further depredations. But after 2 more calves were killed nothing could be done to prevent U.S.F.W.S. and Wildlife Services from destroying the few remaining wolves.

For those of you interested in reading more about the sad demise of the Whitehawk pack click here. This link is to a page on Ralph Maughan's website. It contains links to articles from several newspapers about the final control actions.

Below are links to statements written in response to the recent control killings. Please take the time to read them.

This first response is from Ed Bangs and the U.S.F.W.S. Mr. Bangs was so overwhelmed by the criticism received over the control killings in Idaho and the Paradise Valley that he felt the need to make a public statement.

This response is from the Defenders of Wildlife. When you click on this link the response is the 2nd story from the top.

Well, it finally happened. The Druid Peak pack has officially split into 4 groups and 2 of those groups have been confirmed to have denned. The main group, still led by Alpha male #21 and Alpha female #42 consists of approximately 13-15 wolves. Female #42 was confirmed to have denned on April 11.

The second group confirmed to have denned is headed by petite Alpha female #106 and an unidentified male. There are probably a few wolves from the main pack with her and her mate. This group will be given a new name as soon as the pup count has been confirmed.

*The above pack has been named the "Geode" pack.

Female #103, who also split from the main pack, does not appear to have denned. It was first believed that she had, but now it is fairly certain that she hasn't. No one knows if #103F has a mate, or even if she is the Alpha of the pack. Her pack was recently named the "Agate" pack

The last of the splinter groups is believed to be headed by female #105, who dispersed from the Druid Peak pack sometime ago. She has not been confirmed to have denned either and it is uncertain as to whether #105F has a mate.

Female #103 and female #105 are each in the company of several wolves that most likely originated from the main pack, although a few dispersers from other packs have also been seen with them. All 4 groups are occupying territories a comfortable distance from each other.

Alpha female #18 of the Rose Creek pack was confirmed to have denned around mid April. The pack, which has practically been driven out of the Park by the huge Druid Peak pack and all its sub-groups, had consisted of only 8 members before this year's litter. I don't know why this pack was down to only 8 members. #18 had 7 pups last year, plus an unknown number of yearlings/adults. It'll be a while before anyone knows how many pups #18 has.

Most of the Park's other packs have also been confirmed to have denned, with the exceptions being the Yellowstone Delta pack (formally the Soda Butte Pack), and the "back together" Tower pair. The Chief Joseph pack, which lost both of its Alphas in late 2001, appears to have a new Alpha pair and they are believed to have denned.

With the break-up of the huge Druid Peak pack the Nez Perce pack now holds the distinct honor of being the largest pack in the entire Yellowstone recovery area with over 27 members, not counting the newest litter.