Wolf Reintroduction: How the Wolves Came Back

The Wolves’ Adjustment

In spite of the political turmoil they caused, by February 1996 the wolves were doing very well. But they have experienced their share of setbacks. Less than two weeks after the hard releases in central Idaho, one of the wolves was shot near Salmon, Idaho, while it was supposedly feeding on a calf. The ranch owner, Eugene Hussey, claims he did not shoot the wolf. Instead, he asserts that he found it dead, along with a calf killed by a wolf--or coyote--when he went to check on his animals in the morning (Loftus 1995). In compliance with the experimental population clause which allows ranchers to shoot wolves in the act of killing livestock, no charges were filed.

Soon thereafter, reports of another dead wolf in Idaho came in. This wolf, killed by a poison M-44 cyanide baited "coyote getter," was not wearing a radio collar (Loftus 1995). All of the wolves released during the reintroduction were radio-collared. The wolf killed by the coyote trap was a wild disperser, not part of the reintroduction program.

Six of the wolves released into Idaho formed pairs, although none of the couples produced any pups in 1995. One of the hard released Idaho wolves returned to Canada. The wolves are generally staying much closer to the release point than was originally expected. Normally, animals reintroduced under a plan of a hard release are expected to flee, attempting to find the home from which they were taken. In this case, only one wolf is suspected of returning to its Canadian homeland.

The Yellowstone wolves have fared equally well. These wolves were restrained in one-acre holding pens for several weeks before their final release into Yellowstone. The holding pens allowed the wolves to get to know each other. Shortly after the release, several of the wolves formed breeding pairs. Each pack of wolves is named after the one-acre enclosure that held it. One group of wolves, the Rose Creek pack, had a particularly difficult time. The alpha male and female of the Rose Creek pack set out in early spring of 1995 to dig their den for the expected pups. Unfortunately, the wolves began looking for a den on the edge of Red Lodge, Montana. Before the alpha female even had a chance to dig the den, the alpha male was shot by Chad McKittrick, a local Red Lodge resident.

McKittrick claims he was unaware that the animal was a wolf, but witnesses in the truck with him when he shot the wolf assure officials that he was well aware that he was killing a wolf. In addition to witness claims, federal agents found the wolf’s hide and skull inside McKittrick’s house (Outside Online Staff 1995). McKittrick was eventually brought to trial for shooting the wolf. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison. He was not given the maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Unable to dig the den alone, the widowed alpha female gave birth to a litter of 8 pups beneath a pine tree outside the town of Red Lodge (Maughan 1995a). Federal biologists feared that the alpha female would be unable to care for her pups alone (Maughan 1995a). Shortly after the birth, biologists moved the female and her pups back to the Rose Creek enclosure inside Yellowstone National (Maughan 1995a). The wolf biologists fed the penned wolves carrion all summer, helping the pups grow rapidly. Toward the end of July, a summer thunderstorm blew a tree down across the fence of the Rose Creek enclosure. Half of the pups managed to escape. One of the four that escaped was recaptured and returned to the pen. The others stayed close, joining the rest of the pack for biologist-supplied carrion.

Biologists were unsure when to release the pups from the pen. They wanted to ensure that the wolves were old enough to fight off coyotes. However, they also wanted to give the alpha female enough time to teach her pups how to hunt before the onslaught of winter. They also wanted to be sure that the pups would be an asset rather than a liability to their mother’s hunting efforts. Then, a grizzly bear began to stalk the enclosure, attracted by the carrion. The presence of the bear prompted the re-release of the Rose Creek Pack (minus the alpha male) on October 10, 1995 (Maughan 1995a).

After release, the Rose Creek Pack scavenged for food. Soon, they met up with the Crystal Bench Pack, another group of wolves reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. One of the wolves, a subordinate wolf in his second year of life, decided to join the Rose Creek pack (Maughan 1995a). He became the new alpha male, making the Rose Creek Pack the largest pack (10 members) in Yellowstone (Maughan 1995a).

One other Yellowstone pack, the Soda Butte Pack, also contributed to the re-establishment of the wolf population. The pack produced 1 pup. Overall, the reintroduced wolves birthed 9 pups since their release in January 1995. Tragically, one of the 8 Rose Creek pups was accidentally killed inside the park by a delivery truck driver.

The wolves in Yellowstone are fairly visible, and the Crystal Bench Pack (the most active of the packs) attracts many visitors. Even the Clintons traveled to Wyoming to see the Yellowstone wolves. The wolves fared the winter very well and do not have a shortage of prey. Most of the animals from both the hard and soft releases remain inside their designated release areas.

Problems between wolves and livestock have been few. In January 1996, one of the Yellowstone wolves wandered from its pack and killed two sheep on private property. Federal biologists suspect that the wolf was attracted not by the sheep, but by the approximately 100 wolves that live in captivity on nearby property. Although keeping captive wolves is now illegal, a permit was extended to the owners of these wolves because they were keeping the wolves in captivity before the law restricted it. The wolf was captured and placed in a holding pen in Yellowstone before being released into the park. Shortly after its release, the wolf returned to the sheep ranch. The reintroduction plan assures ranchers that if a depredating wolf attempts to kill livestock a second time, it will be killed. Once officials learned that the wolf returned to the sheep ranch, it was killed. Defenders of Wildlife announced on January 18, 1996, that they will reimburse the sheep ranchers for the loss of two sheep. The total reimbursement amounts to $258 (Maughan 1996a).

Only one incident between wolves and domesticated pets was reported so far (Maughan 1995c). While a couple was walking their two trained hunting dogs on a back road near Fishtail, Montana, one of the hunting dogs suddenly took off up the road, and the couple was unable to follow it. The couple reports that they heard growls and roars. After making their way up the road, they found their dog dead. Wolves were located in the area later that day by aerial tracking and wolf prints were all around where the dog was killed (Maughan 1995c). The Defenders of Wildlife compensation program does not reimburse for losses other than livestock. The wolf reintroduction plan states that any wolf killing domestic pets will be captured and removed. However, a spokesperson for Yellowstone National Park stated that the definition of a pet probably does not include hunting dogs that are trained to pursue animals on their own (Maughan 1995c).

Overall, the reintroductions were successful. In fact, they proceeded more quickly than the experts predicted. However, despite the success of the first stage of the reintroduction program, opposition exists to any further reintroductions.