YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Wolf No. 9, the first of Yellowstone's transplanted wolves to give birth and one of its most prolific breeders, may have been deposed again as the lead female in her pack.
Recent observations suggest the female wolf, one of the original transplants to Yellowstone from Canada in 1995, has been supplanted as alpha, or dominant, female of the newly formed Valentine pack by No. 153, a younger black female.
Biologists had earlier speculated that after No. 9 left the Rose Creek pack that she had long headed in Yellowstone, she would die alone, as many older wolves do. Older wolves often lose their place in the pack hierarchy and either leave or are driven off by others.
But she surprised them by joining up with three other wolves to form the new Valentine pack. She was observed in mating behavior with a male, leading to speculation she had become the pack's alpha female. Typically, only the alpha female breeds.
However, Tim Eicher of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said more recent observations peg No. 153 as the dominant female.
After her mate was shot illegally, biologists moved No. 9 and her pups back to Yellowstone, where they formed the nucleus of the Rose Creek pack, one of the most enduring and productive of the roughly 10 wolf packs now roaming in and around Yellowstone. No. 9 produced five litters there.