Four will be penned on Crystal Bench in Lamar Valley including an adult female and two pups from one pack and another adult male. Mont. A plane load of 20 Canadian wolves cleared U.S. Customs at Great Falls, Mont., overnight and were then flown on to Bozeman. There they were split up for trips to Yellowstone, the other nine to Missoula, Mont. to be released in central Idaho immediately after being flown to backcountry airstrips, either today or Wednesday. Officials have been trapping wolves in British Columbia and hope to snare a total of between 30 and 38. That is the pattern that was established last year, in the first wolf re-introduction.
Federal officials describe the wolf reintroduction program as a success.
The park wolves produced nine pups. The deaths were fewer than expected, however. The wolves have killed one hunting dog that chased them and two to four sheep north of the park. That is less than critics have predicted. Federal wolf biologist Ed Bangs said that if wolf reintroduction continues to be successful this probably will be the last year any are imported.