PACKS

Current Count | Daniel Pack | Green River Pack | Big Piney Pack
Gros Ventre Pack | Black Butte Pack | East Fork Pack

Sublette County wolf pack histories from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annual wolf report for 2009

Current Count: Wolf Packs in Wyoming outside YNP in 2009
(From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annual report for Wyoming 2009).

Nineteen confirmed wolf packs had their territories in northwest Wyoming with relatively high native ungulate densities and relatively low seasonal exposure to domestic livestock. Livestock depredations in these areas were relatively few and sporadic in 2009. Pack size and composition were based on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates as of 31 December 2009.

1) Antelope Pack: (5 wolves: 5 adults/0 pups) The Antelope Pack formed in 2008 when wolves split off from the adjacent Huckleberry Pack. The pack denned in 2009 and produced >2 pups, but the entire pack became infested with Sarcoptes scabiei (mange). By December, 2 adult wolves died of unknown causes and it appeared that no pups survived.

2) Beartooth Pack: (5 wolves: 2 adults/3 pups) The Beartooth Pack was involved in numerous livestock depredations in 2008 and 2007; however, in 2009 no depredations were reported in the pack’s home range. A radio collared adult male wolf dispersed from the Steel Mountain Pack in central Idaho in 2007 and paired with a female wolf from the Beartooth Pack in 2008. The pair produced pups in 2009.

3) Bold Mountain Pack: (2 wolves) Agency reports led to the documentation of this pack in late summer 2008. Numerous photos taken from remote sensing cameras have consistently shown 2 wolves traveling together in the area. Reproduction was not confirmed and little is known about this pack. USFWS biologists and personnel from the Wind River Indian Reservation attempted to identify movement patterns of these wolves, but were unsuccessful. Sporadic reports of wolves in the area will be monitored.

4) Buffalo Pack: (22 wolves: 8 adults/14 pups) The Buffalo Pack formed in 2006 and usurped the Teton Pack from their territory the same winter. The pack normally produced large litters, but only 2 pups survived in 2008. The pack produced a double litter of 14 pups in spring 2009 and their home range continued to include GTNP and the adjacent national forest. The pack killed 3 lion hounds in the Gros Ventre drainage in November 2009.

5) Elk Fork Creek Pack: (5 wolves: 3 adults/2 pups) This pack was documented in 2008 when a radio collared wolf dispersed from the Pahaska Pack. The pack was occasionally exposed to livestock, but no livestock depredations were reported in 2009

6) Gooseberry Pack: (8 wolves: 4 adults/4 pups) The Gooseberry Pack formed in 2006 when the lone remaining wolf from the Owl Creek Pack paired with another wolf. The new pack was implicated in numerous depredations in 2006 and 2007. The entire pack of 6 wolves was removed in control actions in 2008 after they repeatedly killed cattle. A new pack formed in 2009 but was not involved in any livestock depredations that year.

7) Greybull River Pack: (7 wolves: 4 adults/3 pups) The home range of the Greybull River Pack includes areas where large numbers of cattle graze. The pack has been involved in chronic depredations since 2003. In 2007, 8 wolves were controlled for confirmed depredations of 2 cattle. At least 1 cow was killed in 200removed. No depredations were reported in 2009.

8) Gros Ventre Pack: (3 wolves: 3 adults/0 pups) This small pack has persisted for several years in the Gros Ventre drainage. Given the several large adjacent packs in the area and the many potential young dispersers within these packs, it is likely that the Gros Pack will increase next year.

9) Hoodoo Pack: (10 wolves: 6 adults/4 pups) The Hoodoo Pack formed in 2009 after repeated livestock depredations in the Sunlight Basin led to the removal of the entire Crandall Pack and most of the Sunlight Pack in 2008. The Hoodoo Pack produced pups in 2009 and was not involved in any livestock depredations. Two radio collared wolves from the pack dispersed to the Lamar Valley in YNP.

10) Lava Mountain Pack: (7 wolves: 3 adults/4 pup) USFWS has received reports of wolves in this area since 2006. In summer 2009, USFWS biologists found a rendezvous site and confirmed 3 adults and 4 pups.

11) Pacific Creek Pack: (14 wolves: 10 adults/4pups) The Pacific Creek Pack was first documented in 2004. Mange was found on two members of this pack in winter 2006 during capture efforts, but mange was not found on Pacific Creek wolves in 2008 or 2009.

12) Pahaska Pack: (9 wolves: 5 adults/4 pups) The Pahaska Pack was first documented in 2007. Radio contact with the Pahaska Pack was lost when the only radio collared wolf in the pack dispersed >150 miles to southern WY. The Pahaska Pack was not involved in any livestock conflicts in 2007, 2008, or 2009, but they killed a hiker’s dog in 2009.

13) Phantom Springs Pack: (9 wolves: 5 adults/4 pups) Numerous agency and citizen reports led to the documentation of this pack in 2008. This pack possibly formed from members of the Huckleberry Pack. The pack’s home range is mostly in GTNP; however, the pack makes occasional long distance movements in the winter to southern YNP.

14) Pinnacle Peak Pack: (14 wolves: 8 adults/6 pups) The Pinnacle Peak Pack was documented in fall 2007 when a 2-year old radio collared female dispersed from the Buffalo Pack. The pack’s home range includes the National Elk Refuge and the Granite Creek drainage near Bondurant, WY.

15) Popo Agie Pack: (2 wolves/0 pups) Wolves were confirmed in the Sinks Canyon area in 2008, with reports of at least 2 wolves. We continuously received reports of these wolves, but we have not been able to confirm pack size or pack composition.

16) Rim Pack: (6 wolves: 4 adults/2 pups) This pack was first discovered in April 2008 when a 3-year old radio collared male dispersed from the Pinnacle Peak Pack. The pack produced pups in 2008 and 2009.

17) Sunlight Pack: (4 wolves: 2 adults/2 pups) The Sunlight Pack has occasionally killed livestock in the past, but during summer 2008 the pack repeatedly killed cattle on private property and public grazing allotments. All but 4 wolves were removed from this pack in 2008 in an effort to stop depredations. Mange has been documented in this pack since 2003. The pack persisted in 2009 and no depredations were reported within their home range.

18) Washakie Pack: (10 wolves: 6 adults/4 pups) The Washakie Pack has existed since 1997 and has been implicated in numerous depredations. A public grazing allotment that overlapped the pack’s home range was retired in 2008, and no depredations were reported in 2009.

19) Whiskey Basin Pack: (3 wolves) This pack was first documented in winter 2008. Numerous photos consistently show 3 wolves. Despite considerable field efforts, we have not been able to document reproduction or pack composition.

Home ranges of 14 wolf packs in WY whose home ranges overlapped areas where large numbers of domestic livestock grazed on private and public lands were involved in at least 1 depredation in 2009.

1) Absaroka Pack: (4 wolves: 2 adults/2 pups) Due to chronic depredations, all but 2 wolves were removed from the Absaroka Pack in control actions in 2007. The pack reformed in 2008, and 2 more wolves were removed after 2 confirmed depredations. This pack continues to persist in spite of chronic mange infestations and repeated cattle depredations. In 2009, 4 wolves were removed after the pack killed 4 cattle.

2) Big Piney Pack: (5 wolves) Multiple wolves were found near Big Piney region in fall 2008 and in 2009. Depredations have been chronic in this area in the past, but no depredations were confirmed in 2007 or 2008. One calf was killed in 2009. We couldn't confirm reproduction or pack composition.

3) Black Butte Pack: (3 wolves: 1 adult/2 pups) This pack formed and reproduced in 2006, but chronic depredations have led to numerous control actions. A dispersing radio collared male from the Jackson area was located here in late summer 2008 with 1 other wolf. The par produced 6 pups in 2009. After the pack killed 37 sheep and 1 yearling steer, both adults and 4 pups were removed. The 2 remaining pups survived and were later joined by a dispersing, radio collared, male wolf from the Phantom Springs Pack near Jackson, WY.

4) Butte Creek Pack: (8 wolves: 4 adults/4 pups) This pack was first documented in summer 2008 when 2 radio collared wolves dispersed from the South Fork Pack. In the following year, the pack produced 4 pups. One wolf was removed in 2009 after the pack severely injured 1 cow. No further depredations were reported after the control action.

5) Carter Mountain Pack: (4 wolves: 2 adults/2 pups) In past years, chronic depredations have been documented in the Carter Mountain Pack. In 2007, all but one wolf were removed in control actions. The pack reformed in 2008 and killed 1 cow. Two wolves were removed in a control action and no additional depredations were recorded. In 2009, the pack killed 1 calf. Given the pack’s history of chronic depredations, 3 wolves were removed and no further depredations occurred.

6) Chagrin River Pack: (7 wolves: 4 adults/3 pups) Wolves were first documented in the Driggs area in 2005 when a radio collared male dispersed from the Teton Pack. Contact was lost in 2006 when this collar was chewed off. In summer 2008, USFWS followed up on reports from a hunter leading to the discovery of a missing radio collared wolf from the Huckleberry Pack with 5 other wolves. The pack killed 1 calf near Victor, ID in 2009. ID WS attempted to trap and remove a wolf near the depredation site, but were unsuccessful. No other depredations occurred and control effort ended.

7) Daniel Pack: (4 wolves) There were 4 wolves in the Daniel Pack at the end of 2007. In early 2008, this entire pack was killed by private individuals when wolves were delisted and WGFD designated wolves as predators in this area. There was no evidence of wolves in this pack at the end of 2008. The pack reformed in 2009 and killed 1 calf. No additional depredations occurred.

8) Dog Creek Pack: (6 wolves: 1 adult/5 pups) This pack was discovered in summer 2008 when at least 12 sheep were killed on a public grazing allotment. One wolf was removed in a control action and no additional depredations were reported. The pack produced 6 pups in 2009 and quickly began killing sheep once the grazing season began. Five adult wolves were removed after the pack had killed 45 sheep and 3 guard dogs. At the end of 2009, >1 adult and >5 pups remained in the Dog Creek drainage.

9) East Fork Pack: (8 wolves: 4 adults/4 pups) The East Fork Pack was first documented in 2005, but is suspected to have been around since at least 2004. In 2006, a radio collared wolf dispersed from the adjacent Washakie Pack and joined the East Fork Pack. The East Fork Pack killed 2 cattle in 2005, 2 cattle in 2006, 6 cattle in 2007, and 2 cattle in 2008. Three wolves were removed in control actions in 2008. In 2009, 2 calves were killed. Depredations stopped after 2 wolves were removed.

10) Green River Pack: (8 wolves: 3 adults/5 pups) With several thousand cattle grazing in the Upper Green River drainage, the Green River Pack has been removed several times since 2002 due to chronic depredations, but new packs continue to recolonize the area. The pack killed >10 cattle in 2002, >9 cattle and 1 sheep in 2003, >20 cattle in 2004, >10 cattle in 2005, >27 cattle in 2006, >12 cattle in 2007, and >11 cattle and 14 sheep in 2008. Control actions were ongoing in 2008; however, no wolves were removed. The pack reproduced in 2009 and began killing cattle early in the summer. By the end of the grazing season 4 wolves were removed and there were a total 7 confirmed cattle
depredations.

11) South Fork Pack: (6 wolves: 4 adults/2 pups) The South Fork Pack formed in 2005 and have since been implicated in chronic depredations killing >3 cattle in 2005, >19 cattle in 2006, >1 cattle in 2007, and at least 4 cattle in 2008. The South Fork and the Absaroka Packs were both in the vicinity of a livestock depredation in 2009. One wolf from the South Fork Pack was removed and no further depredations occurred.

Packs no longer existing or missing
1) Deer Creek Pack: A pair of wolves was repeatedly seen during winter 2009 in Converse County. WS unsuccessfully attempted to trap and radio collar these wolves in the spring after they killed a calf. We did not receive any other reports of wolves in the area for the rest of the year and we suspect that the wolves no longer exist.

2) Prospect Pack: Since 2005, the Prospect Pack has been implicated in multiple depredations: 33 sheep in 2005, and 22 cattle in 2006. No depredations were reported in 2007 or 2008. At the end of 2007, at least 3 wolves were confirmed in the Prospect Pack. Two wolves were killed while wolves were delisted and were classified by WGFD as predators in this area. Two wolves were repeatedly seen in the same area in 2009. Both wolves were removed after they killed a calf.

3) Big Horn Pack: Wolves have dispersed to the Big Horn Mountains on numerous occasions over the last several years; however, no packs and no reproduction have been confirmed. In 2007, 4 sheep were killed by wolves. Two wolves have been inadvertently killed by M-44’s used for coyote control. In 2009, 2-3 wolves began killing sheep on private land in the southern Big Horn Mountains. Shoot-on-site permits were issued to the wool growers who lost sheep and WS repeatedly tried to remove the offending wolves in very difficult terrain. Three male wolves were finally removed, but not until the wolves killed >113 sheep. After the wolves were killed, we discovered that one of the wolves was radio collared and had dispersed from Montana.

4) Snake River Pack: (4 wolves: 4 adults/? pups) Reproduction in the Snake River Pack was not documented in 2008. Their remote location did not allow confirmation of reproduction or pack composition. By 2009, we suspected the pack no longer existed.

5) Huckleberry Pack: (3 wolves: 3 adults/? pups) The Huckleberry Pack formed in 2006 and possibly combined with the Sage Pack in 2007. Members of this pack split and formed the Antelope Pack and possibly the Phantom Springs Pack. During winter 2009, a remote camera took a photo of >6 uncollared wolves within the old home range of the Huckleberry Pack. It’s unclear if these wolves are remnants of the old Huckleberry Pack or possibly wolves from the Bechler Pack in YNP. This winter we will attempt to radio collar these wolves and unravel the mystery.