Yellowstone Wolf: Tracking the Packs logo

Yellowstone Wolf: Tracking the Packs

Yellowstone's wolf packs—Swan Lake

The Swan Lake pack formed when a Leopold disperser (152F) and an uncollared gray male had pups and established a territory in the Swan Lake Flats and Gardiner’s Hole area. In 2001, two adult males were collared including 206M (thought to be the original uncollared gray alpha male) and 204M (unknown origin). While 206M was identified as the likely alpha male, genetics showed that 204M fathered at least some pups between 2000 and 2005. Swan Lake wolf 296F was radiocollared in 2003 as a pup. This female dispersed later in the same year and was hit by a car and killed near Denver, Colorado in June 2004. This dispersal distance of over 400 miles provides a great example of the extreme distances wolves are capable of traveling. This pack dissolved in 2005 when the alpha female (152F) died (possibly killed by an ungulate blow), breeder 204M dispersed and was later killed by other wolves, and another collared female (355F) died of unknown causes. Of the two remaining collared wolves from the Swan Lake pack, 473M dispersed outside of Yellowstone and 295M was last located near Sphinx Creek in July 2007.

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