The gray wolf population is declining, says Doug Smith, the coordinator of the reintroduction efforts and leader of the Yellowstone Wolf Project that studies and manages the wolves.  Wolves are killing each other at a higher frequency to complete for elk, their primary food source, which is less abundant now, he says.  “The good times are over,” Smith says.  His annual census of the parks wolf population is expected to be the lowest in 10 years, he said.  Smith is still gathering data but says the number of gray wolves in the park will be 116, a 33% drop from 2003, when the population was at an all-time high of 174.

           While parvo-virus and mange continue to reduce the population, part of this year’s decline can be traced to the fact that in 2008, wolves lost protection in the Northern Rockies under the Endangered Species Act.  Wolves , like all wildlife, are protected inside the park, but when they roam beyond the borders, they fall into the state’s wildlife management practices.  Idaho and Montana, which borders Yellowstone permitted hunting of wolves this fall.  Idaho recently extended it hunt until March.

           The Yellowstone pack hardest hit by the hunt is nicknamed Cottonwood. Hunters killed four members of the pack, including the breeding female, her mate and her daughter in a Montana wilderness area bordering the park.  “The wolves have it hard enough inside the park,” says Rolf Peterson, a wildlife biologist at Michigan Technological University.  “The Yellowstone wolves should be treated like national treasures and protected.”

           Several conservation groups, including the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife, have joined in a lawsuit and argue that the Northern Rockies wolves should be put back on the endangered species list.  If wolves are relisted, hunting would be banned.  “We’re very much against the hunting of wolves at this time,” says Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive Vice President of Defenders of Wildlife. 

           The group faults the states” management plans to reduce wolves from 1650 to 450.  State officials state the need to balance the wolves with the habitat and other wildlife.  “It probably sound counterintuitive to kill wildlife to protect wildlife,” said Caroline Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish and Wildlife.  “We haven’t opened the flood-floodgates to killing wolves, but having wolves, livestock and other wild game on the same landscape in Montana is tricky.  It’s a very tenuous balance.”

           Montana Fish and Wildlife closed the hunting season early in the area where the Yellowstone wolves were killed and plans to wait until spring to decide about next seasons wolf hunt—if there is one.

           Wildlife biologist Petson says the wolves in the northern part of the park will need to turn to prey other than elk, which he says will help Montana because it doen’t want the animals migrating into the state where they spread disease to cattle.  “The wolves are going to have to learn to hunt bison,” he said.

           The winter elk numbers in the park have dropped from 17,000 to 6, 800 since wolves were reintroduced.  Hunting and weather factors have also taken a toll, Smith says.  The remaining elk are stronger, he says, making hunting harder for wolves.    “I’ve seen three cases this fall where a pack of wolves have gone after elk and the elk puts up a tremendous fight,” Smith says.  “I’ve never seen anything like that before.  The wolves are risking their lives to hunt and eat.”

           Peterson, author of The Wolves of Isle Royale, a 50-year study of the wolf packs in the Lake Superior region of the country, says other wolves will move into the territory dominated by the Cottonwood pack and the overall health of the wolves in Yellowstone is good.  “This is just part of the ebb and flow,” he says.

           The roadside spectators still have plenty to see even as the wolf population drops in the park.  “This is still the best place in the USA to see wolves.” Smith says.  “It’s just that there’s an equilibrium now between the predator and the prey.”  ■          Reprinted from USA Today.