Fixing Yellowstone: How an Intact Ecosystem Set the Stage for a Wolf Queen’s Long Reign

Fixing Yellowstone: How an intact ecosystem set the stage for a wolf queen’s long reign

On four separate occasions, Wolf 907F seized power as the alpha female leader of the Junction Butte Pack in Yellowstone National Park. (National Park Service file photo courtesy of Jeremy SundeRaj/Yellowstone National Park) EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third installment of Howl, a five-part written series and podcast season produced in partnership between the Idaho Capital Sun, States Newsroom and Boise State Public Radio. Read the first installme…

Lone Wolf Passes Within Feet Of Tourists @ Yellowstone National Park

Although wolves once roamed much of the United States, loss of habitat and extermination programs led to the demise of a significant majority of their population including inside Yellowstone National Park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the northern Rocky Mountain wolf as an endangered species in 1973, designating the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as one of three recovery areas. Between 1995 and 1997, 41 wild wolves from Canada and no…