Officials Prepare To Release Wolves Into Yellowstone Biologists Want To Time Release With Breeding Season To Encourage Wolves To Den Rather Than Return To Canada

Canadian wolves penned here for nearly two months could be released in the wild within two weeks, National Park Service officials said.

They said the release will occur no later than early April, because the wolves’ breeding season will be over, and packs with pregnant females will need to find den sites.

Wolves were moved from Canada to Yellowstone and central Idaho in January as part of the government’s effort to reintroduce wolves to those areas. The animals taken to Idaho were released immediately, but those at Yellowstone were placed in one-acre pens to acclimate.

Officials said they are encouraged by indications the captive wolves have been breeding.

Biologist Doug Smith said scientists hope to time the release with the wolves’ 60-day gestation period, so that the urge to den overcomes the wolves’ urge to return to Canada.

Park spokeswoman Marsha Karle said biologists will not wait for the outcome of legal challenges to the wolf reintroduction before releasing the animals. Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer has requested the release be put off until the challenges are resolved, but Karle said waiting is impractical.

She also said that if the courts rule in favor of the challengers, the radio-collared wolves can be retrieved. Once released, the wolves will be monitored daily by biologists in airplanes.

In other developments related to the wolf project, the sheriff for Idaho’s Lemhi County has withdrawn his cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as it investigates the killing of a wolf in the Salmon, Idaho, area.

The decision by Brett Barsalou follows a dispute over the investigation into the killing, which occurred in January. Barsalou said he objects to the way three federal agents this week searched the ranch where the wolf was shot.

The killing is believed to have occurred as the wolf attacked a calf. Under the rules governing the Idaho wolf reintroduction, wolves that prey on livestock can be killed legally.