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Sunlight Basin wolves leave cattle herds alone By MICHAEL MILSTEIN Gazette Wyoming Bureau CODY, Wyo. – Wolves are filling up Sunlight Basin northwest of Cody and cattle are, too, but so far there have been no run-ins between them. At least two of the three wolf packs in Sunlight Basin have produced litters of pups and the third – led by the prolific matriarch known as Number 9 – may well have pups, too, said Mike Jimenez, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wolf biologist in Wyoming. That puts nearly 20 wolves in the Sunlight Basin, about twice as many as spent the summer there last year. The wolves have gradually spread into the scenic valley from Yellowstone National Park, where the endangered species was first reintroduced in 1995. Several working ranches also graze their cattle in the Sunlight Basin. Cattle began arriving in the valley for the summer grazing season last month, Jimenez said, and some livestock have grazed in the immediate vicinity of wolf dens. “We’ve had wolves pass right through the livestock with no problems so far,” he said. “The wolves are going about their business.” Livestock grazed on pastures all around the den of Number 9, for instance. She has since left her den, as wolves typically do at this time of the summer, and biologists have kept track of her general location through her radio collar but have not yet caught sight of her long enough to tell whether she has a litter of pups with her. Number 9 has recently been accompanied by an uncollared black wolf that biologists assume to be her mate. Biologists have named the pair and any pups they might have the Beartooth Pack. All of Number 9’s movements, including long-distance travels possibly in search of food, are consistent with her hunting to feed a litter of pups, Jimenez said. If Number 9 has produced a litter this spring, it would be her sixth litter in Yellowstone, boosting her already unrivaled contribution to the wolf population in the Yellowstone region. The Sunlight wolf pack, which two years ago became the first wolf pack to take up residence in the valley, includes at least six adult wolves and four wolf pups born this spring. It may also include another one or two adult wolves that biologists have not yet identified. Two other wolves – Number 153 and Number 164 – produced another five pups in the Sunlight Basin this spring and have often traveled through livestock herds on their way to hunt, Jimenez said. None of the wolves have attacked or harassed livestock. Jimenez said he’s not surprised that the wolves and livestock are so far living in apparent harmony in the Sunlight Basin. He formerly worked in parts of Montana where wolves and livestock often did the same, the wolves focusing on their standard prey of elk and deer and virtually ignoring cattle as simply a part of the landscape. In some cases, however, wolves do begin to attack livestock nearby, he said. Federal biologists attempt to capture and remove such wolves as soon as they can to keep them from spreading their bad habits to other wolves. A team of students from Northwest College in Powell has been assisting the Fish and Wildlife Service by tracking the Sunlight Basin wolves daily to keep watch over their location and movements. Biologists have now confirmed a total of 11 breeding pairs of wolves in the Yellowstone region this spring, putting the population over the target of at least 10 breeding pairs outlined in the federal wolf recovery plan. Michael Milstein can be reached at (307) 527-7250 or at gazette@wavecom.net
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