17 GET RADIO COLLARS
Latest exams show park's wolves are in good shape
By MICHAEL MILSTEIN
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - Wildlife biologists in the last three weeks have captured 17 wolves in and around Yellowstone National Park and fitted them with radio collars that will let the biologists track the movement and expansion of wolf packs.

Besides attaching radio collars, biologists have examined each wolf and taken blood samples that will open a window on the genetic diversity of the Yellowstone wolf population. All the wolves examined so far have been healthy - one yearling wolf weighed in at 120 pounds, heavy even for an adult wolf and a sign the animals are eating well.

"We're talking some very big wolves," said Yellowstone spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews. "They're in extremely good condition."

Biologists say the condition of the wolves suggests that Yellowstone is indeed well-suited as wolf habitat, with ample prey available.

"Yellowstone, in a lot of ways, was made for wolves," said park wolf biologist Doug Smith.

Biologists began their current capture effort on Jan. 11. Helicopters hired from Hawkins and Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyo., have been clattering over the Yellowstone backcountry in search of wolves that do not already wear radio collars. Sharpshooters from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Damage Control, now known as Wildlife Services, then shoot the wolves with tranquilizer darts to immobilize them while they are examined and fitted with radio collars.

The goal of the project is to radio-collar 25 to 30 of the roughly 120 free-ranging wolves now living in and around the national park, including the "alpha" or leading pair of wolves in each pack. A total of 35 wolves already wore radio collars before the project began, so the biologists would like to have 60 to 65 wolves collared when they finish.

The wolves collared so far this winter include two adult wolves, four yearlings and 11 pups born last year.

Biologists hope to capture, examine and collar one-third to one-half of all pups in each of the 11 known wolf packs.

The collaring team has not yet gone after the two groups of wolves that have recently taken up residence in the area of Jackson Hole and the National Elk Refuge there. Weather halted the capturing effort Tuesday and the work will not resume until next week, Matthews said.

Biologists say they must have collars on close to half of the Yellowstone wolves so they can follow their movements and keep track of wolves that may split from their current packs to form new ones. The collars will also alert them if any wolves die and let biologists keep track of wolves that roam outside of the park, as biologists expect will happen as wolf numbers increase.

Wolves are now listed as an endangered species. The federal wolf recovery program that started in 1995 calls for at least 10 pairs of wolves breeding for at least three consecutive years in each of three recovery areas - Yellowstone, Central Idaho and Northwest Montana - before the species can be declared recovered and removed from the federal endangered species list.