The year began with an interesting twist on wolf recovery in Yellowstone Park. The annual census was taken and one estimate of the population size was one third less than last year. With around 100 wolves, the park’s population is still quite healthy by any standard. However, the seemingly sudden decline in numbers would be alarming if most biological indications did not suggest this would be natural. For much of the past ten years, the population has grown from a few wolves brought from Canada to several hundred. Naturally the population will peak at some high level then decline to fluctuate moderately around a lower, long-term population size. The peak occurred in about 2003 and since then the pack sizes and total number of Yellowstone wolves has declined moderately.
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