Yellowstone wolf killed by trapper fondly remembered by researcher

“I think one of the main reasons I was so drawn to her was because I could see myself in her and she always made me smile,” Taylor Rabe wrote as part of her tribute.

A researcher who studies wolves in Yellowstone National Park on Sunday posted a video tribute to one of her favorite wolves a year after the animal was killed outside of the park by a trapper.

The female wolf was cataloged by park researchers as 1229F.

Taylor Rabe of the Yellowstone Wolf Project expressed her feelings via Instagram:

“Yesterday was one whole year without 1229F running around the park causing trouble – my favorite girl. She was spunky, charismatic, and moved to the beat of her own drum. She was always playing with the puppies and prancing around all over Lamar Valley.

“I grew very fond of her over the years, and loved trying to pick her out of the pack (though it wasn’t very hard). She was so unique, and I will cherish the moments I had with her.”

Yellowstone has lost several wolves that ventured outside the park during recent hunting and trapping seasons.

Rabe’s tribute comes nearly three weeks after the end of the most recent season in Wolf Management Unit 313, immediately north of the park in Montana, because an established quota of six wolves had been reached.

A park spokeswoman confirmed to FTW Outdoors that all six wolves “belonged to packs that spend the majority of their lives inside Yellowstone National Park and have territories largely within the park.”

One was a male collared research wolf from the Mollie’s Pack.

Rabe’s tribute to wolf 1229F continued:

“She helped me fall in love with wolves and wolf watching. I think one of the main reasons I was so drawn to her was because I could see myself in her and she always, always made me smile. That’s the beauty of watching wolves in Yellowstone – you can’t help but fall in love with them and following along with their stories, no matter how they may end.

“Unfortunately, she was trapped and shot last winter, and man do I miss seeing her every day in the field. Her absence is truly felt – but she made my time here so fun. Thanks for the memories girl, may I think of you always.”

–Image courtesy of Taylor Rabe

Yellowstone-based wolves faring much better this hunting season

Montana hunters have killed three wolves from packs based in Yellowstone National Park so far this season, which pales in comparison to the toll exacted by this time in 2021-22.

Montana hunters have killed at least three wolves from packs based in Yellowstone National Park so far this season, which pales in comparison to the toll exacted by this time in 2021-22.

Yellowstone Public Affairs Specialist Linda Veress provided the following  details to FTW Outdoors on Thursday:

One was an un-collared male wolf from the Rescue Creek Pack, killed on Dec. 5, 2022. The second was a radio-collared 2-1/2-year-old male, cataloged as 1325M, from the 8-mile pack, killed on Dec. 31, 2022.

The third was a 3-1/2-year-old collared female, 1229F, from the Junction Butte Pack, killed via trapping on Jan. 13, 2023.

All were harvested in southwest Montana after they’d wandered north of the the park.

Junction Butte Pack. Photo courtesy of Yellowstone National Park

In all, five wolves have been killed in a district that was notorious for wolf kills last season. The other two, both males, are not believed to have been based in Yellowstone.

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The district quota this season is six.

PERSPECTIVE

Through Jan. 26, 2022, 17 Yellowstone wolves had been shot or trapped after leaving the park. A few were harvested in Idaho and Wyoming, but most were killed in the same southwest Montana region.

By season’s end, Yellowstone would lose 25 wolves – about one-fifth of the population – to hunting and trapping, thanks largely to the elimination of quotas near the park’s northern boundary.

Wolf crossing road inside the park. Photo courtesy of Yellowstone National Park

Montana hunters accounted for 21 kills in a season that was intensely controversial long before it ended. (Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declined a request by Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly to suspend the hunt as concerns mounted in Dec. 2021.)

Yellowstone was left with only 89 wolves entering the spring pupping season. They faced an uncertain future as apex predators deemed important both ecologically and from a tourism standpoint.

But last August, to avoid a repeat of last season, the Montana Fish and Game Commission voted to cap the number of wolves killed in what’s known as Wildlife Management Unit 313, at six wolves for 2022-23.

CURRENT STATUS

The 2022-23 season in WMU 313, which began last Sept. 15, will end March 15 or as soon as the quota reaches six. Veress said that as of Dec. 31, 2022,  108 wolves belonging to 10 packs were residing primarily inside the park.

–Images show gray wolves inside Yellowstone National Park

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