Reintroducing Wolves to Wyoming
An Historic Conservation Achievement
Where did they come from?
The wolves that currently live in Canada are the same ones that used to inhabit the central and northern United States. Since wolves were exterminated from the western region of the lower 48, capturing animals from Canada for reintroduction back into the United States was an ideal match.
Reintroduced wolves are often incorrectly called "Canadian" wolves. Both biological and genetic research provide evidence of only two subspecies of wolves inhabiting the central and western portions of the United States, both of which moved freely across the Canadian border. Other taxonomists reject the subspecies theory, believing instead that the same wolf species lived in both the western U.S. and Canada.
When selecting wolves for release into central Idaho and Yellowstone, biologists chose wolves in Canada that were already living in habitat similar to that of Idaho and Wyoming. A few wolves have even made the trip on their own. In 1991, a GPS-collared wolf traveled from Banff National Park, Alberta, to British Columbia, down to Browning, Montana, before moving southwest past Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, into Washington state and then back to her home territory; traveling an area equivalent to about 40,000 square miles in less than three years. While this is an extreme example, several wolves have dispersed hundreds of miles in just a few weeks.
Sources
(1) Lukens, Jim. "Idaho, eleven years with wolves: what we've learned." News release, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, April 25, 2006.
(2) Mech, L.D., and L. Boitani, editors. 2003. Wolves: behavior, ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press. Wandering Wolf Inspires Project, 5/23/2006, New York Times