Though the media’s attention has focused on the wolf
reintroduction effort in Yellowstone National Park, wolves in Idaho
may reach the recovery goal of 10 breeding pairs first. Biologists
received good news last spring when they confirmed that eight pairs
of wolves in Idaho had denned. Three litters have been sighted so
far. In 1995, resarchers found no evidence of denning wolves.
Bob Ruesnik, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, says of the 35 wolves released in Idaho during the past
two years, 25 survive in six national forests in central Idaho and
along the Idaho/Montana border. Four of the missing wolves are
confirmed dead: One was shot, a lion killed one, another drowned in
a trap laid by the federal Animal Damage Control, and the fourth
died from unknown causes.
In Yellowstone, five
pairs of wolves denned last spring, according to federal officials,
and four of their litters survived. The fifth litter was destroyed
by another pack. So far nine of the 31 wolves transplanted to
Yellowstone have died, although their loss was offset by nine pups
born in 1995.
“The weak link in the chain appears
to be Yellowstone,” federal biologist Ted Koch told AP. “Who would
have guessed that?”
Current information on Idaho
wolves can be obtained from the monthly Idaho Wolf Update,
published by the Nez Perce Tribe, P.O. Box 365, Lapawi, ID 83840
(208/843-7373) or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Snake River Basin
Office, 4696 Overland Road, Room 576, Boise, ID 83705
(208/334-1931).
* John
Rosapepe
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Where the wolves are.
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