Wolves maxing out in Yellowstone Park area
By Paula Clawson, Enterprise Staff Writer
The
gray wolf population in Yellowstone National Park is about
maxed out, causing wolves to establish more packs outside
of the park, according to biologists.
The
annual wolf count in the Greater Yellowstone area was done
in late December by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National
Park Service biologists.
The
counts show the estimated Greater Yellowstone wolf population
to be about 273, up from 218 last year. Within the park,
the count is about 148, up from 131. Outside the park, the
numbers rose to about 125 from 87.
“There
was an 11 percent increase in population in the park, which
is less than the growth outside the park,” said Douglas
Smith, Yellowstone’s lead wolf biologist. “That
indicates the population in the park is stabilizing.”
Wolves
are very territorial and there has been a lot of fighting
among wolf packs in Yellowstone this year, said Ed Bangs,
the USFWS wolf recovery coordinator.
“The
park is essentially full,” Bangs said. “The
only place for wolves to expand is outside the park where
there aren’t wolf packs now.”
This
year’s count confirms federal population goals have
been met to take the wolves off the endangered species list,
Bangs said.
“Our
recovery goals of having 30 or more breeding pairs for three
successive years are met,” Bangs said. “We are
working with the states to put together a delisting package
and hope to have them delisted in early 2004.”
Gray
wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park,
northwest Montana and central Idaho in 1995. The goal was
to have 30 breeding pairs throughout the entire reintroduction
area.
There
are now 41 breeding pairs and between 650 and 700 wolves
in the reintroduction area.