JACKSON, Wyo. — Wolf 1228F in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is notable for her resiliency throughout a life that biologists have observed as being particularly challenging.
According to Kira Cassidy, research associate with the Yellowstone Wolf Project, 1228F has been observed for her entire life, nearly five years. Born to the Junction Butte pack in 2019, 1228F’s mother, Wolf 969F, was a subordinate female in the pack while 1228F’s aunt, 907F, was and continues to be the alpha today at almost 11 years old.
Rick McIntyre, retired biological technician for the Yellowstone Wolf Project and author of a number of books including “Thinking Like A Wolf” and “Unlikely Hero: The Story of Wolf 8,” says that 1228F was born into an “unusual” context of cannibalism.
McIntyre says there was a long-term sibling rivalry between 969F and 907F, and in 2019, the year that 1228F was born, her mother ended up carrying away one of 907F’s pups and consuming it.
McIntyre says biologists still don’t know how to fully interpret this event, whether the motives were competitive or potentially positive, where 969F might have been attempting to save the other pups from the contagious distemper virus. However, around December 2019, McIntyre says 969F’s collar sent off a mortality signal; upon examination of her body not far from the main Junction Butte den site at Slough Creek, wolf bite marks indicated there was a high probability that members of her own pack killed her.
McIntyre theorizes that having no living mother may have contributed to what he calls 1228F’s “very lonely status in the pack.”
In early 2021, McIntyre tells Buckrail that 1228F left her family at 22 months old and was observed spending time with a male wolf. However, she returned to the Junction Butte pack wounded, which McIntyre suggests was a result of other wolves attacking her.
McIntyre says he witnessed her rejoining her family and getting “beat up” by the other wolves before they allowed her to stay as a low-ranking pack member. 1228F ended up leaving again, in early 2022, when she met her first mate with whom she eventually started the Shrimp Lake pack. While 1228F ultimately saw the loss of that mate, which the 2022 Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Report confirms was a result of being shot and killed by a hunter outside of Park boundaries, and the loss of a pup, she has successfully kept the Shrimp Lake pack persisting as its alpha.
“No matter what kind of losses she’s had, she keeps on moving forward,” McIntyre says. “She had these traumatic setbacks and, rather than just giving up, she continued to move forward and found a way to be successful.”
While McIntyre acknowledges that wolves can’t be described exactly like people, he emphasizes that both wolves and humans live in extended family situations and, because of this, can deal with similar issues. He says everyone goes through setbacks, just like 1228F has.
“What can we take from it?” McIntyre says. “What I take is that she had all these terrible things happen to her and her reaction was to continue to try. We can learn lessons from that.”
Stay tuned for a closer look at 1228F as an alpha and the Shrimp Lake pack.
