Montana's Wolves Are Back
Restoring the Predator Guild of the Northern Rockies
Wolves and Elk
State elk and deer populations have been relatively unaffected by wolves.
In fact, Montana's elk herd has grown from 55,000 in 1978 to nearly 150,000 today, with elk now occupying about 60 percent more habitat than they did 40 years ago. Due, in part, to a string of mild winters, 68 of Montana’s 159 hunting districts were over the population objectives set by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Park’s elk plan by 2007, leading the agency to consider more liberal hunting quotas to bring populations down to management goals.
Source: Perry Backus of the Missoulian, June 25, 2007;
Many ecologists believe that, rather than affecting elk population numbers, the restoration of wolves to the northern Rockies may have affected elk behavior. Alert to a new predator on the landscape, elk may be more wary than in recent years. This may cause them to linger less frequently in open meadow and riparian zones, as well as altering traditional migration routes to avoid wolf packs. In essence, elk appear to be returning to a more "wild" behavior pattern from a time before wolves were eradicated from the northern Rockies.
Source: The Oregonian, Oct. 29, 2006
Researchers have documented that wolves tend to prey on the most vulnerable deer and elk, which includes weak, diseased, injured, very young calves (this appears to be largely compensatory as overall elk calf survival has remained steady), and older adult cow elk that are beyond their reproductive prime. Hunters, on the other hand, tend to kill cows that are in their reproductive prime.
Source: Wright, Peterson, Smith, and Lemke. August, 2006. The Journal of Wildlife Management 70(4).