Yellowstone Wolf Directory

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Longtime Alpha Pair  (2M and 7F) (Leopold) (2002)

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One of the older, and more stable packs in the eco- system, the Leopold pack experienced dramatic change in 2002. Both alpha wolves, #2M and #7F, the original progenitors of the pack, were killed by other wolves. 

In May, #7F was traveling near the eastern boundary of her territory when she was attacked by other wolves, probably the Geode Creek pack in that they had denned nearby, and had a kill even closer to where #7F was found dead. Number 7F had given birth to eight pups and a necropsy indicated that she was still nursing them at the time of her death, about five to six weeks after the pups were estimated to have been born. All of the pups survived and were seen being cared for (not nursed) by other members of the pack. 

Winter study crews had documented #2Mʼs ejection from the pack by late November. 

It was initially presumed that his departure was temporary in order to find a new mate following #7ʼs death. Observations later indicated that he had lost his dominant status to another pack member, an uncollared gray male of unknown origin. Number 2 traveled outside of core Leopold territory, occasionally with other wolves, until he was found dead on the last day of the year. An examination of the site and the carcass clearly indicated that he also had been killed by other wolves, probably Geode Creek again in that he was inside their territory, and they were the closest pack to #2M at the time of his death. Number 2M was the last surviving wolf from the 1995 reintroduction.

More on 2M death (from the inset story of the Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Report of 2000)

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"Then on the last day of 2002, we found #2M dead. Unlike #7F, he had lost his position in the pack and dispersed before his death. Packless, he traveled a month, sometimes with other wolves, sometimes alone, and sometimes in Geode Creek pack territory. We do not know who he was with when he was attacked, but we know from tracks that multiple wolves found him. When we inspected the site it was clear what had happened: several other wolves had caught him at the top of a hill, driven him into a downed tree, broken branches with wolf hair, and a blood trail 50 meters down a hill. We found him at the bottom, fed on by birds, his side ripped open and exposed. His carcass was littered with tooth marks and hemorrhaged flesh. We collected his head for historic purposes, leaving his carcass for eagles, ravens, and magpies to consume. "

Source : Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Report of 2002

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