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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Yellowstone wolf numbers up slightly

This photo provided by Wolves of the Rockies shows a wolf pack in Yellowstone National Park in 2012. The pack’s alpha female was shot in Wyoming, among at least five collared wolves from Yellowstone killed by hunters that fall. Four more wolves collared in the park but no longer living there also had been shot. (Associated Press)
This photo provided by Wolves of the Rockies shows a wolf pack in Yellowstone National Park in 2012. The pack’s alpha female was shot in Wyoming, among at least five collared wolves from Yellowstone killed by hunters that fall. Four more wolves collared in the park but no longer living there also had been shot. (Associated Press)

PREDATORS -- Yellowstone National Park biologists counted at least 104 wolves from 11 packs living in the park at the end of 2014.

The figures released Wednesday were up slightly from the prior year, when 95 wolves from 10 packs were counted. Northwest states released their 2014 numbers last spring.

Wolves were reintroduced to the nation’s first national park in the mid-1990s. Their numbers peaked about a decade ago and have since declined in part because their prey base of elk has dwindled.

Wolves are big attraction to park visitors, including regulars who monitor pack activities and movements.

Hunting of the animals is legal in two states bordering Yellowstone – Montana and Idaho. It remains prohibited in Wyoming under a 2014 federal court order that’s been challenged by state officials.



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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