Poacher illegally kills prominent wolf from Yellowstone's most viewed pack: Officials
A prominent wolf that lived among Yellowstone's most famous wolf pack is believed to have been illegally shot and killed just outside the park last month, according to wildlife experts.
The wolf was likely killed on Christmas Day around 10 p.m., according to a statement by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). Wildlife officials began investigating after they received a mortality signal from the wolf's collar near the Jardine area, the agency said.
The collar had been cut off and thrown into a tree, but park rangers did not find the wolf's carcass, according to FWP.
The killing likely occurred in wolf management Unit 313, a hunting boundary set by the Montana FWP which had closed to hunting on Nov. 16, officials said.
The hunting season closed -- the wolf-hunting quota for Unit 313 -- had been met, Marc Cooke, president of Wolves of the Rockies, told ABC News. The wildlife advocacy group defends the wolves of Yellowstone National Park and the Rocky Mountains.
The National Parks Service deferred to FWP when contacted by ABC News, since the poaching occurred just north of Yellowstone National Park boundaries.
Montana officials did not name the individual wolf that was believed to have been killed. However, wildlife advocacy groups and the greater wolf community are confident that the wolf in question was 1478F, they told ABC News.
A female wolf of the Junction Butte pack named 1478F -- based on her collar number -- was born in April 2022 and became one of the most beloved members of the pack for trackers and visitors alike due to her demeanor and hunting skills, wolf historian Leo Leckie told ABC News. The Yellowstone Wolf Family Tree, which Leckie contributes to, is the historical archive of all Yellowstone wolves since they were reintroduced into the park in 1995.
The collars are equipped with GPS signals that give off a mortality signal if the wolf has not moved in several hours, Leckie noted.
Russ Kehler, a wildlife photographer who has been tracking the Junction Butte pack and other prominent Yellowstone wolf packs for the past three decades, first heard of speculation of 1478F's death from researchers from the Yellowstone Wolf Project, he told ABC News. Those researchers have been collaring and tracking wolves in the region since their reintroduction.
Had the current alpha female of the pack been killed, 1478F was poised to become the new alpha, the wildlife experts said.
She had a unique demeanor and was a skilled hunter, Cooke said. She also did well with pups -- both her own and others, and had shown resilience when the current alpha attempted to ostracize her from the pack, according to Kehler.
The Junction Butte pack is one of the most visible wolf packs in Yellowstone, the wildlife experts said. The area surrounding their core territory allows visitors to view them on a regular basis, Leckie said. Slough Creek, within the park, is one of their main hangouts, according to Cooke.
The pack suffered three deaths in the past year, including 1478F's younger sister, 1479F, in September during a legal hunt. The sisters' mother, 907, was previously the matriarch of the pack and was killed by a rival pack before she turned 12 years old, Leckie said.
The manner in which 1478F was killed was especially heinous and outside the bounds of ethical fair chase hunting, according to the wildlife experts. Since 1478F was killed late at night, the hunters were likely wearing night vision goggles. And since the collar was thrown into a tree, the hunter likely knew what they were doing was illegal, Leckie said.
"Poaching is alive and well in Montana," Cooke said.
Montana officials initially offered a $1,000 reward for information on the poaching, but the reward was increased by another $30,000 from funds from the Large Carnivore Fund and Wolves of the Rockies.
The Yellowstone wolves bring in millions of dollars a year to the surrounding community through tourists seeking a glimpse of wildlife in their natural state, Cooke said.
Montana FWP did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
