You're watching Inside Yellowstone.
Lamar Valley was named for Lucius Lamar,
the Secretary of the Interior in 1885.
For over a century it was one of the
least visited areas of the park.
But lately, it has become a very
popular for wolf watching. The broad
expansive valley was sculpted by
glacial ice and strewn with glacial
ponds and boulders dropped by melting
ice. Flanked by the steep ridges and
peaks of the lofty Absaroka Mountains
and dotted with aspen groves, the
valley is bisected by cottonwoods
along the Lamar River. It is truly
beautiful. And it is seething with
wildlife. As wintering ground for
hundreds of bison and thousands of
elk, it is a great place to see the
large prey species of the park.
And where there's prey,
there are bound to be predators.
Sometimes called the American Serengeti,
Lamar Valley is the best place in
the world to view wild wolves.
When wolves were reintroduced to the
park in 1995 the first packs were
released in Lamar Valley because it
is perfect wolf habitat with all the
elk and wide-open space in which to
chase them. Though wolves have spread
out over the park, the Northern Range
still supports the highest density
of wolves and their pack territories
overlap here. Visitors and researchers
enjoy watching wolves hunt, eat, sleep,
fight and play. Some thrill at hearing the
wolves howl. (wolf howling) In Lamar Valley,
the wolves not only interact with
their prey, but also with coyotes,
ravens, grizzlies and even other wolves.
No one predicted they would be this
visible but 20,000 people see wolves
each year in Yellowstone.
Because they are so visible, researchers
are learning new things about wolf
behavior and ecology. Their return is
certainly changing the valley and
there are many theories about how wolves
will affect the ecosystem. Now that they're
back, we'll just have to wait and see.