Wolf Releases So Successful No More Planned Wolves Reproducing Faster Than Biologists Expected

A program to relocate wolves from Canada to the United States has been so successful it will not continue this winter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports.

Government biologists said the plan to rebuild the wolf populations in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho has gone so well it is being terminated with a year still to go.

Wolves from British Columbia and Alberta were released in Yellowstone and along Idaho’s Salmon River in January 1995 and January 1996.

The Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena said the wolves are reproducing faster than expected and restoring the balance of nature.

Erasing the wolves from the endangered species list in the Northern Rockies would occur if there are at least 10 breeding pairs in Idaho, Yellowstone and northern Montana for three consecutive years.

The first two areas each have seven breeding pairs, while the latter has 14.