JACKSON, Wyo. – A new study published in January confirms that killing wolves outside of National Parks interferes with wolf pack dynamics within park boundaries.
According to a Western Watersheds Project (WWP) press release, the study looked at five national parks including Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) and Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and found that packs whose members died of human causes “suffer a high chance of social disruption and pack disintegration.”
Losing one member is enough to increase the chances of complete pack disintegration by 23.7 percent, and if one of the two alphas in a pack is killed it can reduce the likelihood of pack persistence to breeding season by 73 percent.
The WWP press release also notes that “of the five national parks, Yellowstone and Grand Teton had the highest proportion of their wolves killed by humans.” In January 2022, 20 of Yellowstone’s gray wolves who had moved out of the park were shot by hunters, the most in a single season.
Gray wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho are currently considered a species of concern. While wolves are protected when inside parks like GTNP and YNP, listing the wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would prohibit all trapping and hunting of wolves by granting the species federal protection.
