Wolves of Yellowstone

The Mary Mountain Pack surveys the landscape from a snowy hillside in Hayden Valley.

NPS Photo/Erin Stahler

 

Wolf Restoration

Wolf Management
• To learn more about wolf management visit the United States Fish and Wildlife Service- USFW provides weekly updates on the wolves of the Rocky Mountain region including wolves of Yellowstone.

• Learn more about Montana's Wolf Conservation & Management Program.

• Visit the Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center.

2011 Executive Summary
At the end of 2011, at least 98 wolves in 10 packs (8 breeding pairs), with 2 loners occupied Yellowstone National Park (YNP).This is the same population size as 2010 (97 wolves) so represents a stable population. Breeding pairs were also stable at eight. The wolf population has declined approximately 60% since 2007 mostly because of a smaller elk population, the main food of northern range wolves. The interior wolf population has declined less, probably because they augment their diet with bison. The severity of mange continued to decline in 2011, although some packs still showed signs of the mite. There was no evidence of distemper being a mortality factor as it was in 1999, 2005 and 2008.Pack size ranged from 3 (Agate Creek) to 19 (Mollie's) and averaged 10.2 equal to the long-term average (10). Nine of 9 (100%) packs that we had information on (we could not assess the reproductive status of Bechler) had pups. The average number of pups/pack in early winter for packs that had pups was 4.1 approximately equal to 4.8 pups/pack in 2010, but higher than 2009 (3.8). A total of 34 pups in YNP survived to year end, four less than in 2010.

Project staff detected 343 kills (definite, probable, and possible combined) made by wolves in 2011, including 267 elk (78%), 15 bison (4%), 18 deer (5%), 1 moose (<1%), 2 pronghorn (<1%), 2 bighorn sheep (<1%), 2 badgers (< 1%), 1 jackrabbit (<1%), 14 coyotes (4%), 1 raven (< 1%), 7 wolves (2%), and 13 unknown prey (4%). The composition of elk kills was 27% calves, 3% yearlings, 44% cows, 18% bulls, 3% adults of unknown sex, and 6% of unknown sex and age.Bison kills included 5 calves, 1 yearling, 2 cows, 6 bulls, and 1 unknown sex adult.

Other research included population genetics, population regulation, disease, hunting behavior, spatial analyses of territory use, wolf pack leadership, multi-carnivore-scavenger interactions, breeding behavior, dispersal, and observations of wolf, grizzly bear and bison interactions in Pelican Valley.

Twelve wolves were captured and collared in 6 packs. At year's end 17% of the wolf population was collared.

Wolf management activities included den site closures, several hazing events, and one removal of a food conditioned wolf. Staff continued to manage wolf viewing areas in Slough Creek and Lamar Valley and other hot spots where wolves were frequently sighted leading to 25,000 people observing wolves and 17,635 visitor contacts by Wolf Project staff. Wolf Project public outreach included 241 talks and 84 interviews.

Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Report 2010 (1.9 Mb pdf)

 

<strong><h4>2011 Yellowstone National Park Wolf Map Territories</h4></strong>

 

<strong><h4>Yellowstone National Park Wolf Population Estimate as of 2/16/2011</h4></strong>

 

Pack	Adults	End-Of-Year Pup Count	Total
Northern Range
8 Mile*	5	2	7
Agate	3	0	3
Blacktail*	10	5	15
Lamar Canyon*	6	5	11
Loners/Non-pack Wolves (752F + 1 Blacktail Gray)	2	0	2
Northern Range Totals	26	12	38
Non-Northern Range
Bechler (no working radio collars in pack)	4	0	4
Canyon*	5	2	7
Cougar Creek*	4	3	7
Mary Mountain*	5	5	10
Mollie's*	12	7	19
Yellowstone Delta*	8	5	13
Non-Northern Range Totals	38	22	60
YNP Total	64	34	98
* Breeding pairs
Wolf Population Estimate by Recovery Area (as of 2011)
Northwestern MT			431
GYA			499
Central Idaho Recovery Area			797
Total (106 breeding pairs)			1727
Wolf Population Estimate by State (as of 2011)
Idaho			746
Wyoming			328
Montana			653
Oregon			29
Washington			18
Utah			0
Total (109 breeding pairs)			1774

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2009 & Earlier Data: Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Reports
2009 (1.9 Mb pdf)	2002 (980K pdf)
2008  (2 MB pdf)	2001 (541K pdf)
2007 (1.8 MB pdf)	2000 (248K pdf)
2006 (1.63 MB pdf)	1999 (693K pdf)
2005 (1.7 MB pdf)	1998 (320K pdf)
2004 (1 MB pdf)	1997 (643K pdf)
2003 (903K pdf)	1995-1996 (1.1 MB pdf)

2004 Map
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem wolf pack territory map

The Yellowstone Park Foundation raises money each year to help support Yellowstone's Wolf Project. They are a non-profit organization whose mission is to fund projects and programs that protect, preserve and enhance Yellowstone National Park.