Wolf packs only showed up in the Jackson area at the end of the study. Also, researchers were prohibited from capturing elk calves within the home range of the Teton Wolf Pack inside Grand Teton National Park. The pack was the first to den in the park for more than 60 years, and its alpha female was left to care for five pups on its own after the alpha male was killed by a car. When the female began losing a lot of weight, park officials resorted to feeding the pack road-killed elk and deer. Smith tracks elk calf mortality by using radio transmitters that send signals when the animals die.
Different predators leave different clues, including scat, tracks and how they tear away the meat.
Wolves may have the best luck before elk become accustomed to living with the predators. His research shows a 7 percent decline in elk calf survival from the first study period to the second. Grizzlies increased calf mortality by 3 percent, and mountain lions also played a role. Smith said it is important to continue tracking elk calf mortality, even though his latest study is coming to an end. Documenting what wolves eat was among a list of federal research priorities recommended by biologists last summer.