Yellowstone Wolves To Be Set Free Soon, Under Close Watch Animals Have Been In Pens For 9 Weeks To Adjust To Area
Surveillance worthy of terrorists or bathing beauties is planned for the 14 gray wolves that federal wildlife agents will set free in Yellowstone National Park this week.
From the moment the wolves leave their three one-acre pens in the Lamar Valley, wildlife officials will be monitoring not only their locations but also their activities and behavior. All the wolves will be wearing radio collars, and they will be tracked electronically as well as watched from the air and the ground.
Federal teams even plan to catch any wild-born wolf pups and fit them with radio collars.
“We have promised people we’re going to stay on top of this, and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Yellowstone biologist Mike Phillips, who for years watched over red wolves returned by the government to wildlife refuges in coastal North Carolina.
Trapped in Canada and transplanted to Yellowstone eight to nine weeks ago, the wolves have been held in the pens to become acclimated to the area. Others were released in central Idaho without the delay.
The close scrutiny will show whether the wolves set up territories in the park, as federal authorities hope, and if not, how far they roam.
Biologists plan to release the first pen of wolves Tuesday evening. The others will follow at approximately one-day intervals.
Rangers will prohibit park visitors from stopping in the Lamar Valley when the wolves first take off. Biologists along the road through the valley will track the wolves by their radio collars every 15 minutes during their first night of freedom, Phillips said.
As the wolves roam farther, teams will track their collars from the air at least once a day, possibly twice, and will inform the public of the general locations of the wolves, Phillips said.
Biologists also plan to gather details about where and how wolves select prey and kill it.
Wolves already have attempted breeding in the pens. While biologists say they will not be surprised if the wolves do not give birth this spring, they say pups are a possibility.
By following young wolves that strike out on their own, wildlife authorities hope to tell how wolves will disperse through the Yellowstone region.