Rangers Guarding Wolves

The National Park Service is taking death threats against wolves seriously.

Armed rangers guard the wolf pens round-the-clock and tight security surrounds the entire area.

Mike Phillips, wolf recovery project leader, said the rangers stay at a distance but keep constant surveillance over the wolves. That will continue until the wolves are released from their 1-acre pens in four to six weeks, he said.

The rangers stay in canvas structures with wooden floors and propane heaters.

Officials said patrols also have been beefed up along the Mammoth-Cooke City road. It’s the only highway in Yellowstone open to car traffic and the route to all three wolf pens.

Despite intense media coverage, few people have been coming to the Lamar Valley seeking to hear a wolf call, Phillips said, but those who do are cautioned against trying to make the wolves howl.

“We have a very vigorous law enforcement presence,” Phillips said. “That (howling at wolves) would be very quickly detected and halted.”

Howling at a wolf would be considered “harassment” of wildlife - as is bugling at elk - and is banned by park rules, he said.

Wayne Brewster, who for years led wolf recovery efforts in Yellowstone until he turned his duties over to Phillips, said the wolves probably will be released from the pens after the middle of February.

At least two of the adult females are showing signs of going into heat, he said, and wolf backers are hoping for puppies in the spring. There are breeding age males and females in each pen.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the coyotes know something’s up,” said Phillips. “The dog world is real simple. The big dog beats up the little dog. And the coyote is the little dog in the park now.”

While wolves may be seen occasionally in the future, it probably will be rare.

“There will be a lot of mystery because wolves basically are indifferent and intolerant of people,” he said.

He said keeping the wolves in the pens is meant to teach them to like their new surroundings and resist impulses to run off.

“The challenge is to get wolves to stay long enough to know this is a great place,” he said, gesturing over a ridge where hundreds of elk and bison foraged through deep snow. “They don’t know this is a great spot. It’ll take them a while to learn that.”