Wolves Dining On Weak Elk Transplanted Animals Staying Close To Pens

As expected, the Canadian wolves transplanted into Yellowstone National Park are not having much trouble finding dinner.

There is a veritable banquet of winter-weakened wildlife and the ample opportunities for food are keeping the wolves relatively close to the pens they occupied from January through much of March, officials said.

Biologists so far have inspected six elk evidently pulled down by wolves in the Lamar Valley, where all 14 park wolves have been roaming since their release, park biologist Mike Phillips said.

“There’s a lot of very vulnerable elk out there right now,” he said. “Our expectation that these wolves would find plenty of food once they got here seems to have been correct.”

And there are various other kills that have been spotted from the air while tracking signals from the radio-collared wolves, he said.

All of the wolf-killed elk inspected by biologists apparently were weakened by winter conditions, Phillips said.

He based that assessment on tests suggesting the elk had depleted their bone marrow reserves over the winter.

Signs a pack has remained in the same general area of release could be an indication the group is readying a pen for pups this spring, but it also could easily be the result of finding a good food supply, Phillips said.

Wolves might typically begin denning about now, but that routine may be delayed in wolves under stress.

“In the presence of the stress of being in the pen, the cycle could be delayed maybe to the end of April,” Phillips said.