Yellowstone Wolves

A Conservation Success Story

Yellowstone National Park holds a crucial place in the history and future of gray wolves in America. Spanning over 2.2 million acres, the Park's vast wilderness offers an ideal habitat for wolves, providing them with the space, prey, and natural environment needed to thrive. It also offers us an opportunity to observe wolves living life free and wild in their natural habitat.

Gray wolf reintroduction

In 1995-1996, the park became the focal point when 31 gray wolves were reintroduced after being nearly exterminated from the lower 48 states. Gray wolf reintroduction and subsequent recovery is considered one of the world’s greatest wildlife conservation success stories.

Stripping Endangered Species Protections

However, over the past decade federal Endangered Species Act protections have been stripped from wolves in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming—states that share a border with Yellowstone National Park. While wolves are protected within Yellowstone, wolves following prey across park boundaries are in danger of being killed by trophy hunters. 

The danger beyond park boundaries

Because park boundaries are unmarked and have no physical barriers, it is impossible for wolves to be fully contained inside the park where they are safe. Yellowstone’s wolves acclimate to the presence of park visitors from when they are pups, so they don’t differentiate between park visitors who admire them and hunters who prey upon them.

Legislative threats

In 2021, Montana legislators passed a series of bills designed to reduce the state’s wolf population by as much as 85%. After the bills were signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte, Montana wildlife managers adopted a myriad of options for hunters and trappers to kill wolves, including allowing baiting right up to the Yellowstone National Park boundary. The quotas of one wolf each in Montana Wolf Management Units 313 and 316 (WMUs 313 and 316) right outside the northern boundary and adjacent to the park were removed—making it open season on Yellowstone wolves setting paw in Montana, and they suffered tragic consequences. ‍

06; Jimmy Jones Photography

Tragic consequences

Hunters and trappers killed at least 25 Yellowstone wolves — impacting 7 of 8 packs living primarily inside Yellowstone National Park. According to the Yellowstone Wolf Project 2021 Annual Report.

• 19 wolves killed in Montana (16 in WMU 313 and 3 in WMU 316)
• 4 wolves killed in Wyoming
• 2 wolves killed in Idaho
• The Phantom Lake pack was nearly wiped out by hunters and ended up dissolving.
• One Yellowstone wolf was shot and killed just 130 feet from the park line.

Nearly twice as many Yellowstone wolves were killed this season than in any other year since reintroduction. The loss “is a huge setback,” says wildlife biologist Doug Smith of the National Park Service, who leads the park’s wolf restoration and study project, which began in 1995.

We had in Yellowstone one of the best models for understanding the behaviors and dynamics of a wolf population unexploited by humans.”

— Doug Smith, Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader

Caught in the Crossfire

During the 2021-2022 wolf hunting season, hunters in states bordering Yellowstone National Park (YNP) killed many more wolves that used the park than in previous seasons.

Be Their Voice

We must never remain silent for 06, 926F, 10M, 1155M, Canyon Alpha Female, and all the wolves who have been killed simply for existing. These wolves are more than just numbers or names—they are symbols of the wild and of a struggle that continues across America. Now, more than ever, they need our voices to stand up for their rightful place in nature.