Wolves Finally Heeding Call Of Wild, Officials Say One Heard Howling, Spotted Outside Pen; Six Others May Also Have Left For New Homes In Yellowstone

Biologists heard howls Friday from the first free wolf in Yellowstone National Park since the predators were exterminated from the region in the 1930s.

A Canadian gray wolf who was so pale he was almost white howled off and on for 20 minutes outside an open pen in the park’s Lamar Valley. A small herd of nearby bison did not react to the new sound, but biologists who hiked to the spot to cut a secondary exit and provide fresh meat took notice.

“When we realized he was outside the pen, we dropped the meat and hightailed it out of there,” Mike Phillips said.

He speculated the male wolf was trying to communicate with his two female penmates, one of which was spotted in the cage.

“He was probably saying something to them and they understood him better than we did,” Phillips said. “The message I got was it was time to get out of there.”

A half-dozen wolves in a second pen five miles away may also have left their cage, although biologists could not confirm that because of a bitterly cold spring snowstorm that swept the area.

An infrared motion sensor monitoring a newly cut opening in that pen recorded six movements spread over about 90 minutes, park spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said. The first was recorded at 9:04 a.m., and the sixth at 10:35.

Other signals during the day indicate the animals may be moving in and out of the pen, dining on a deer carcass left nearby for them, according to a pool report.

Spokeswoman Marsha Karle said officials were being cautious until they had confirmation.

th.th. who knows?” she said.The wolves were relocated to the park in January. The

two cages were opened Tuesday and Wednesday, but it wasn’t until Friday the wolves decided to venture into a landscape rich with prey.

Biologists wanted to keep human contact to a minimum to encourage the wolves to explore the park and stay in the area, Phillips said.

The gate of a third pen holding the remaining five wolves brought to Yellowstone was expected to be opened early next week, Karle said.

Biologists said because the wolves have avoided the gates, they have not become accustomed to humans. Phillips called that a good sign.

“They’re showing aversive behavior toward humans,” he said. “That says they’re still wild.”

Park rangers and biologists had entered the enclosures every five days to leave game carcasses to feed the wolves.

The wolves are among 29 brought to Yellowstone and central Idaho from Canada in an effort to restore the animals to America’s northern Rockies.

Opponents feared the new predators would kill livestock and trophy wildlife in the region. One opponent said Friday that the wolves should be kept in their cages since they were not in favor of leaving.

“The Park Service could charge for tours to see nature’s latest welfare recipients - wolves eating road kill - in their taxpayer-funded free housing,” said T.R. Mader of the Abundant Wildlife Society of North American, a Gillette-based sportsmen group.