Before wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995 - when there were no wolves "out there" - it was natural to imagine that a few individual wolves would have inordinate importance. We wondered over those first few wolves and guessed what would happen, and, as expected, the stories spun by the wolves themselves were much, much better.

Photo of Leopold Pack courtesy of Douglas Smith/NPS, Yellowstone National Park

A story like this cannot begin without mention of female wolf #9, the best known of all wolves in the reintroduction effort. She is also noteworthy because through 1999, 79% of all wolves in Yellowstone were related to this founder wolf, a staggering fact. Unquestionably an important individual with a richer story. But that story has been told in other places, and she, to a degree, has received her accolades. Another wolf, her daughter #7, has a more unsung story that needs to be told. Now especially because we found her dead, killed by other wolves, this last May. It is timely to review her legacy to wolf restoration in Yellowstone.

Number 7 came with the first shipment of wolves to Yellowstone on January 12, 1995. She was captured in Alberta, in a neck snare, destined for the stretching board, but rescued for the reintroduction to Yellowstone. Instead of being killed, she was radio collared and re-released into her pack to be used as a "Judas" wolf. Judas wolves were named such because they revealed the locations of their fellow wolves, which could also be captured and used in the reintroduction effort. She was captured a second time a week later with her packmates, an experience she learned well from as it took us three years to recapture her in Yellowstone to replace her failing radio collar.

She was acclimated with her mother #9 in the Rose Creek pen behind the Buffalo Ranch in Lamar Valley. Male wolf #10 was introduced to the mother-daughter pair a week later. Apparently this was something she endured, this pen matchmaking, as she left as soon as she could which was when they were released from the pen in late March 1995. She wandered for 9 months alone.

In January 1996 she found #2, a dispersing Crystal Creek wolf on Blacktail Deer Plateau. This pairing represented the first naturally forming wolf pack in Yellowstone's new wolf era - all other packs had been reintroduced as packs. To commemorate the event we named the new pack the Leopold Pack. Aldo Leopold recommended wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone in 1944, an event we felt worthy of recognition.

The pair had three pups that first year and went on to have six more litters together, seven in all. Number 7 gave birth to at least 39 pups and a minimum of 29 survived to yearlings. By 1998 the pack had 13 wolves and from 1998 to 2002 her pack size varied less than any other pack for that time period ranging from 11 to 13, and four of those years it was 13 or 14 wolves. Their territory was also rock solid and changed little over the years, probably the most stable of any pack in the ecosystem. Blacktail Deer Plateau was Leopold turf, and they never left Yellowstone National Park.

These offspring she produced also did well. A daughter dispersed next door and formed the Swan Lake pack - coexisting as a neighbor peacefully because of extensive knowledge of her mother's territory accompanied with a knowledge of how to avoid them - only rarely were they located near each other. Border skirmishes among wolves can be ferocious and fatal, but were unrecorded for these two packs so close to each other. Another daughter dispersed and started the Cougar Creek pack near West Yellowstone. A son left and traveled the closest of any wolf to Bozeman, Montana, within 8 miles, but soon after, he disappeared not to be found again.

Number 7 looked small but was actually big, weighing 115 lbs. in 2000. Her legs were short to make her look petite, but she had a stout body. She also probably seemed small because her leadership of the pack was not overt, but rather had a subdued, gentle touch to it. Contrast this with wolf #40, who was killed by her packmates, and who ruled by aggression. Within a few days watching, a novice observer could identify #7 because of this quiet nature, which was observable in the wolves around her due to their deference. Her gray color had a reddish tint, a trait she passed on to most of her gray pups, which made them annoyingly hard to identify, but we could always pick her out because she had that distinctive behavior - which was a dead give away.

While other wolves changed mates frequently - with multiple mates in the same breeding season at times - #7 always had only one mate and one litter each year. Her black mate #2 was visibly grayed as he aged, she did not, or one could not tell if she did, her graying was unnoticed against her gray coat.

She was found dead while still nursing pups. Her teats were visible and it was evident that they were being used. Some worry ensued over the fate of the pups because normally pups are weaned gradually, but it was clear that this year's pups were weaned cold turkey. In June, we saw 6 rambunctious pups mobbing a non-lactating female who patiently endured the pups' wishful attempts. They made it, and as of this writing (June 2002) continue to do well.

We found her dead near where another pack had denned. A new pack had formed from a fragmentation of the large Druid Peak pack. We suspect them because they were near and there was an elk kill they made even nearer. It is known that alpha wolves are preferentially attacked when wolves do battle, they are more valuable to the pack, and hence for rivals it is like taking out a general rather than a lieutenant. So far it looks like the pack will survive and #2 will carry on. Only two wolves - #2 and #42 are left from the original 31 reintroduced.

Number 7 was eight years old when she died, only old by wolf standards. And when stories about Yellowstone wolves are old, hers will still be among them as one wolf that brought wolves back to Yellowstone.