Wolves of Winter

PAlthough the scarcity of snow along the west coast mountains makes it seem as though we are still stuck in autumn, winter is in full swing in Yellowstone National Park. Last week I made a spur of the moment decision to join my friend and fellow photographer Raghu to look for wolves and other wildlife in the snow. Three years ago I had come to Yellowstone in the winter with my parents to see the geysers and wildlife, but we only caught a brief glimpse of the Druid wolf pack through high magnification spotting scopes. /PPClick image for larger view!/EM/PIMG class=size-full alt=”Wolf Pack, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park” src=”http://www.mineralfossil.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/wpid-wolf-pack-yellowstone-national-park-2013123027123.jpg” Wolf Pack : Prints Available/PPOne of Yellowstone National Park’s resident wolf packs (5 of 7 members in the frame) explores the snow hillsides of the Lamar Valley in winter./PPOnce native to the area, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) was all but exterminated from the Yellowstone ecosystem by the Army, National Park Service, and ranchers between the 1900’s and 1940’s. As a result, the park saw an exponential increase in elk and coyote populations, which had a dramatic effect on the ecological balance. The plants were dying from over grazing, and the land was eroding. The park was being destroyed by its own booming wildlife population. The Park Service was forced to begin relocating elk, and even resorted to killing them, filling the former niche of the gray wolf. Between the 1960’s and 1990’s biologists urged congress to come up with a plan to reintroduce wolves to the Yellowstone ecosystem. Passing the Endangered Species Act in 1973 provided a legal basis for doing so, and after two decades of research and planning, 14 wolves were finally reintroduced into the park in 1995. To help keep track of the wolf populations in the park, approximately one third of the animals are fitted with radio and GPS collars. In addition to tracking the wolves for research purposes, park service officials help visitors see them by locating wolves with radio signals every morning./PIMG class=”size-full wp-image-1742″ title=wolf-project-radio-antenna-20140101_3120 alt=”Wolf project radio antennas and spotting scopes” src=”http://www.mineralfossil.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/wpid-wolf-project-radio-antenna-2014010131203.jpg” width=600 height=400 A wolf project official, surrounded by eager wolf watching tourists, listens to radio signals from collared wolves in Yellowstone National Park./PPSince their reintroduction, the wolves have done remarkably well, surpassing the population goal in 2002. Because of this success, in December of 2011 there were 98 wolves within the park, grouped in 10 packs. In May of 2011 the gray wolf was removed from the endangered species list in Montana, Idaho and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Utah, opening the doors to state managed hunting. According to the management plans, there are quotas for how many wolves can be shot in a given area throughout the hunting season. Wolves form complex family structures and packs, however, so the death of a pack member can have a profound effect on their social network. Just this past year several members of the Lamar Canyon wolf pack were shot and killed while roaming outside the park boundary. With only three remaining members, the alpha male (#755) was forced to leave his pack to find a suitable mate, as the only female left was his own daughter. On our third morning, the wolf project officials had located the lone wolf, taking a nap on a distant hillside. /PIMG class=”size-full wp-image-1761″ title=distant-wolf-20131229_2760 alt=”” src=”http://www.mineralfossil.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/wpid-distant-wolf-2013122927603.jpg” width=600 height=400 The wolf, in the distance. The large image was taken with a 700mm lens (approximately 14x magnification), the inset shows the full pixel resolution, effectively 300x. You can just barely make out its ears./PPIt was a beautiful morning, so Raghu and I decided to pack up and snowshoe up to a parallel ridge in hopes of getting a better view. After an hour of hiking, we spotted him, still peacefully sleeping in the snow! We set up our cameras (still about 1/4 mile away) and waited. Half an hour later, he lifted his head, stretched, and ambled off. As we later learned, his new partner (#889) was nearby, limping with an injured front leg. Perhaps he had gone to help her out./PPClick image for larger view!/EM/PIMG class=size-full alt=”Yellowstone Wolf, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park” src=”http://www.mineralfossil.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/wpid-yellowstone-wolf-755-2013122928023.jpg” Yellowstone Wolf : Prints Available/PPFormer alpha male of the Lamar Canyon wolf pack (#755) poses for a brief moment in the Lamar Valley of Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park./PPOn our final day