Seeing a wolf in Yellowstone National Park is a rare and thrilling experience because a park larger than Rhode Island is home to only about 100 of them.
How many wolves are there? The Yellowstone Wolf Project publishes an annual report about the numbers and health of reintroduced wolves in the park. There were at least 97 wolves in eight packs, including six breeding pairs, living primarily in Yellowstone National Park during December 2021. Find the latest reports at www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolf-reports.htm.
Pack size in 2021 ranged from three to 21 and averaged 12 wolves. Twenty-nine pups survived to year-end.
Wolf Territories in Yellowstone 2021
The eight packs with some or all of their territory within Yellowstone National Park included: 8 Mile, Phantom Lake, Carnelian Creek, Junction Butte, Cougar Creek, Wapiti Lake, Mollies and Bechler.
Yellowstone Wolf Populations from 1995 – 2021
Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995 with 14 animals that were captured in Canada. In 2003, the wolf population peaked with and estimated 174 animals and has fluctuated between 83 and 123 animals since 2009.
Wolf Kills in 2021
Staff detected 134 kills probably made by wolves during 2021, including 82 elk and 22 bison.
Wolf Deaths in 2021
Nine radio-collared wolves died in 2021 including three that were killed by other wolves in inter-pack conflicts.
Wolf Harvesting
Each state where the wolves reside has its own management system for how and when wolves can be killed, although wolf harvesting is illegal within Yellowstone Park boundaries. Of course wolves don’t recognize park or state lines and often wander across them. This means a wolf that usually lives in Yellowstone, but crosses over into state land, can be harvested when it’s outside of the park.
Three radio-collared wolves were killed outside park boundaries in 2021, two of which were legally harvest and one illegally. At least 16 un-collared wolves were killed outside of park boundaries.