Post-Reintroduction

With a record number of elk in Yellowstone’s Northern Range the table was set for the re-introduction of wolves, but that did not guarantee success. The wolves that were released in the first year needed to do three things to survive: Form packs, find and kill enough animals for food, and raise puppies. In unfamiliar territory, with wolves unfamiliar to each other, this was by no means a done deal.

More or less out of the chute, three packs were formed and given names of the area they first inhabited: Rose Creek, Crystal Bench, and Soda Butte. The packs quickly adapted to hunting elk, mostly calves, and small game. In the first year, most of the packs left the Lamar area, presumably exploring, and later returned. The Rose Creek pack took off to the northeast and soon arrived at the edge of the wilderness near Red Lodge, Montana. Here the alpha male was shot by a man who was arrested and given a six month prison term. The alpha female of the pack and her eight pups were relocated back to the Lamar pens and later re-released. The second release in 1996 formed four more packs, among them the renowned Druid Peak pack and the Leopold pack. From the packs of that year came fourteen surviving pups. It was decided that because of this success (and reduced funding) that transporting more wolves was not necessary. The Yellowstone wolf population was on its own way.

Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Population 2006