Wolf Recovery Progresses

Progress in the effort to recover the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the Rocky Mountains continues at a pace far better than biologists and managers had expected. In January of this year, another 37 gray wolves collected from healthy populations in Canada were taken to Idaho and Wyoming, where the species is listed as endangered. Twenty of this year's wolves were radio-collared and released immediately into a National Forest wilderness area in central Idaho. The other 17 were taken to Yellowstone National Park and placed in acclimation pens until their release later this spring. If they fare as well as the wolves reintroduced last year, additional releases planned for next year may not be needed.

Most of the wolves reintroduced in 1995 have adapted well to their new homes. The 15 Canadian wolves released in central Idaho last year travelled widely, but none left the designated "experimental population" area and all primarily used National Forest lands. No wolf predation on livestock has occurred in Idaho. Although several of the Idaho wolves have died, losses have been well below the level projected when the reintroduction project was planned. One wolf was killed illegally shortly after release, another died of undetermined causes in January 1996, and a third has not been located since March 1995. The most hopeful sign is that, of the 12 Idaho wolves from the 1995 release still being monitored, 5 breeding pairs apparently have formed. Wolves in Idaho are managed primarily by the Nez Perce Tribe with funding provided under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

The wolves released in Wyoming last year are faring even better. Fourteen wolves comprising three packs left their acclimation pens in March 1995 and are being monitored by the National Park Service. They are feeding almost exclusively on the park's large elk population and have regularly been killing coyotes, which the wolves see as a competitor in their territory. All three packs stayed together after their release and two packs produced a total of nine pups. (See Bulletin Vol. XX, No. 4.) Four adult wolves have died as of March 1996 and biologists have not located another for about one month. Two of the wolves were killed illegally, one was struck by a truck, and the fourth was ordered destroyed by the FWS after it went outside the park and attacked livestock for a second time. It had already been moved once for taking two sheep. Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders), an independent wildlife conservation group, compensated the rancher for the sheep that were killed and for two others reported missing. Currently, two packs and a new breeding pair (totalling 15 wolves) live almost entirely within Yellowstone National Park, and another occurs along the park's northwestern border.

Under the terms of the reintroduction program, gray wolves in both Yellowstone and central Idaho are designated as "experimental, non-essential" populations. This classification gives them protection but allows managers additional flexibility in the control of problem animals. Fortunately, wolf predation on livestock remains lower than expected. Defenders maintains a large fund to reimburse ranchers for livestock lost to wolves in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. The Wolf Education and Research Center (an organization in Boise, Idaho), Defenders, and other organizations also contributed to the recovery program by providing nearly $80,000 to this year's wolf reintroduction effort.

In northwestern Montana, where the gray wolf is recovering on its own, the population continues to grow. Biologists have detected 9 or 10 packs in this region, depending on how wolves moving across the Canadian border are counted.

If progress continues at its current pace, recovery and delisting goals for wolves in the Rocky Mountains will be reached sooner and cheaper than originally projected.