Yellowstone Wolf Directory

[TheNormalGuy]

Exactly 26 years ago on January 12, 1995, the first wolf (5F) from Alberta was carried in the pen. It was the start of an legendary pack that still rules the park today : "The Crystal Creek Pack".


I should note that it is somewhat a lengthy text.
It would be renamed "The Mollie's" after Mollie Beatie, a great actress in wolf reintroduction in 2000.
I will likely post a video about the history of theirs "alphas" later today or tomorrow. But, in this post, i will talk about how important those wolves are.
The Original pack had 6 members (all of them are pictured in those pictures, which are public domain).

·       2Mb
·       3Mb
·       4Mb
·       5Fg
·       6Mb
·       8Mg
b - Black & g - Gray

·       Wolf 2Mb - Born in 1994 to 4M/5F

He would found the Leopold Pack in Feb 1996 with Rose Creek Wolf 7F and would sired 39 pups in 7 litters (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002). 29 of them survived to the end of the year they were born.

At least 11 of them became alphas and/or produce pups in their lifetime.

·       150M [Fourth Alpha Male of Rose Creek With Rose Creek 190F]
·       151F [Which Founded the Cougar Creek Pack]
·       152F [Which Founded the Swan Lake Pack]
·       207M [Third Alpha Male of Rose Creek, had a litter of 7 pups with 18F in 2001]
·       209F [Third & Longtime Alpha Female of The Leopold Pack]
·       220F [Mother of famous wolves 469F & 536F]
·       259F [Second Alpha Female of The Leopold Pack]
·       287M [Founding Alpha Male of The Hellroaring Creek Pack]
·       290F [Founding Alpha Female of The Wedge Pack]
·       302M ["The Casanova"] [Longtime Beta Male of the Druid Peak Pack and Founding Alpha Male of The Blacktail Deer Plateau Pack]
·       480M [Fourth & Longtime Alpha Male of The Druid Peak Pack]


I wouldn't go on with those wolves descendance as at least 16 of them went to be alphas and/or have pups of their own.

Wolf 2M is the Great Great Grand-Father of the Wapiti White Alpha Female and his genes are in a lot of current yellowstone wolves (I'lle write what i know about the Wapiti White Alpha Female genealogy in a comment)

2M was killed by the Geode Creek Pack on December 31, 2002.

·       Wolf 3M - Born in 1994 to 4M & 5F
He dispersed from the pack near December 1995 & died in February 1996.

·       Wolf 4Mb - Born Before 1992
He is the original "alpha male" of the pack [The dominant breeding male]. He had 4 sons reintroduced in Yellowstone : 3 with Mate 5F & another with her likely sister [5F's].
They are [2M, 3M, 8M] & [6Mb]

His 4 sons [well 2M, 6M, 8M cause 3M didn't breed] had a combined of at least 26 pups who would become alphas and/or give birth to pups.

4M was killed in May 1996 in a conflict with the Druid Peak Pack.

·       5Fg - Born in 1990 or 1991

5F was a special wolf with an distinctive black mark under one eye. She had 3 sons in 1994 with 4M. They were brought in Yellowstone [2M, 3M, 8M]. After 4M died, Wolf 6M became the new alpha male and her new mate. She went missing by the end of 2000 and her last possible signal was a faint one in 2001. She was around 10 years old.
At least 4 maybe 5 of her pups went to become alphas and/or produce pups on their own.

·       2M
·       8M
·       118M ?
·       120M [Third Alpha Male of The Soda Butte Pack]
·       174F [Second & Longtime Alpha Female of The Crystal Creek/Mollie's Pack]

She is the great great grand-mother & great great great grand-mother of the Wapiti White Alpha Female.* (To understand this, read the first comment)
·       Wolf 6Mb - Born in 1994 to 4M & Likely the sister of 5F

He became the second alpha male of the pack after the death of his father, 4M, in May 1996. 6M died in August 1998 from injuries suffered by hunting an elk.
·       Wolf 8Mg - Born in 1994 to 4M & 5F

This wolf is the wolf featured in Rick McIntyre Book :
"The Rise of Wolf 8" which recounted the story about how an runt wolf became one of the best alpha males of a pack.

Context : The Rose Creek Pack had a litter of 8 in April 1995 (16F, 17F, 18F, 19F, 20M, 21M, 22M, 23M) born to 9F & 10M.
However, 10M was illegally shot by a man in early april 1995 near Red Lodge. With that and how important the litter of 9F's was (at that time, her & the litter accounted for 44 % of the yellowstone wolf population), it was decided to capture them and bring them back in a pen to let the pups grows and in the same time, solidify the wolf population in the park.

That's when 8M comes into the story. He discovered the penned wolves in September 1995 (the 9 wolves were released in October) and he stayed around until they were released. On that day, Wolf 9F had a new alpha male to take care of her pups and adult male in him to help her hunt too.
He died in June 2000 from injuries from an elk.

Twelve of his offsprings went to become alphas of a pack and/or produce pups.

·       52M [Founding Alpha Male of The Sunlight Basin Pack]
·       77F [Alpha Female of the Beartooth Pack]
·       78F [Founding Alpha Female of the Mills Creek Pack]
·       153F [Founding Alpha Female of The Absaroka Pack]
·       155F [Founding Alpha Female of The Freezeout Pack]
·       156F
·       161M [Founding Alpha Male of The Freezeout Pack]
·       162M [Founding Alpha Male of The Green River Pack]
·       190F [Third Alpha Female of The Rose Creek Pack]
·       192M [Founding & Very Longtime Alpha Male of The Bechler Pack]
·       193M [Third & Very Longtime Alpha Male of The Mollie's Pack]
·       194M [Longtime Beta Male of the Mollie's & Founding Alpha Male of The Specimen Ridge Pack]


8M is the Great Grand-Father of The Wapiti White Alpha Female.
I know there is a lot of numbers here but the park wolf population have always around 25-30 % of its population collared.


Sources of these informations :
·       Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Reports
·       Yellowstone Wolf Project Members
·       Charting Yellowstone Wolves : 25th Anniversary by Jim Halfpenny, Leo Leckie & Shauna Baron
·       Ralph Maughan Blog Reply