About Wolves in Yellowstone Park

In the late 1800s, wolf packs roamed Yellowstone National Park. But by the end of the 1920s, gray wolves had been hunted to eradication. Wolves had been pursued with more determination than any other animal in United States history. The last wolves were killed in Yellowstone in 1926.

As attitudes towards wild ecosystems changed, people began questioning whether a wolf-less Yellowstone environment was a healthy one. Once the wolves were gone, the elk population exploded and they grazed their way across the landscape killing young brush and trees. As early as the 1930s, scientists were alarmed by the degradation and were worried about erosion and plants dying off.

To protect declining species from the shortsightedness of man, the Endangered Species Act was created. In 1974 the gray wolf was added to the list.

Biologists in Yellowstone began exploring the idea of bringing Canadian wolves to the park and on January 12, 1995 the first eight wolves arrived from Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

Fourteen wolves in 1995 and 17 wolves in 1996 were captured in Canada, translocated to Yellowstone, placed in acclimation pens for ten weeks (three pens in 1995 and four pens in 1996), and then “soft” released into the wild.

In the years that followed, wolves brought the elk population down and protected the open valleys from overgrazing. However, the number of elk killed was double than estimated and many local hunters stirred controversy by protesting that the wolves will end up killing ALL of the elk. Today the debate is still strong. Inside the park, scientists joyously exclaim that the wolves have saved Yellowstone. Cross the park border into a gateway town and you will surely hear how wolves kill for the pleasure of killing and are terrorizing ranches and wildlife.

As of December 2024, Yellowstone National Park had about nine wolf packs and an estimated 120 wolves.