Yellowstone Wolves
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Yellowstone Wolves
Yellowstone wolves are one of the success stories of wolf re-introduction into areas they once naturally inhabited. Originally there were wolf packs present in territories all the way from the Arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada to Mexico. Because of the deliberate human attempts to kill wolves and the loss of habitat, by the middle of the 1920s there were no wolves living in Yellowstone National Park.
Many decades later, when the role of wolves in the ecosystem was better understood, the wolf was placed on the Federal Endangered Species List. This enabled the funds to be spent to re-introduce wolves to various locations throughout the United States, one being Yellowstone National park. The park was one of three areas in the Rocky Mountains identified as a wolf recovery center.
The wolf recovery program is overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Beginning in 1995, every year for three years, thirty pair of healthy, breeding wolves were to be distributed to three different areas in the Rocky Mountains--Yellowstone National Park, Northwestern Montana, and Central Idaho. All of the wolves were brought in from Canada and radio-collared before being released. Preparations had been made for wolves from Canada to be brought in for five years, but the breeding and survival rate were so good that no new wolves were relocated after the first two years. Fourteen wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone in 1995 and seventeen in 1996.
Early in 2008, the Bush Administration ordered the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to put into effect a new mandate that would change the status of the wolves in the Rocky Mountains and other areas from “Endangered” to “Threatened.” That would have meant that in most of these states it would have once again been legal to kill a wolf on sight. The Humane Society of the United States, along with several other animal protection groups filed suit and won. The rule was voluntarily withdrawn by the Fish and Wildlife Dept. on Oct. 14, 2008. Four days later on Oct. 18, a period of public comment on the proposal for delisting was reopened. That means the Yellowstone wolves once again face the same threat because the Bush Administration is still attempting to delist the wolves from “endangered” or “protected” status before this administration ends in January, 2009.
The last annual report on the Yellowstone wolves was at the end of 2007. At that time there were 171 wolves living in 11 packs in Yellowstone National Park. There were fewer packs than in previous years but the packs were larger. For the first time since Yellowstone wolves were introduced, no new packs were formed. Packs contained between four and twenty-two wolves. Eighty-four percent of the animals consumed by the wolves were elk.
The re-introduction of Yellowstone wolves is one of the most successful wildlife conservation programs ever implemented in the United States. Whether this success will continue, remains to be seen.