The famed one-eyed matriarch of Yellowstone Greater Ecosystem wolves died Christmas Day after being wounded in a fight with a rival wolf pack.
Wolf 907F was 11.8 years old, nearly unheard of for a wild wolf. Wolves in Yellowstone National Park typically live an average of 3.5-4 years, according to wildlife biologists.
Fighting with other wolves is one of the most common causes of death for wolves in Yellowstone, wildlife researcher Taylor Rabe told Cowboy State Daily.
Wolf 907F was the alpha of the Junction Butte pack. She and other members of her pack fought with the Rescue Creek Pack on Dec. 22.
The Rescue Creek wolf pack began as an offshoot of the Junction Butte Pack, Rabe said.
“It’s sad. But specifically for all of us on the project, we always like to see a wolf die naturally, rather than at the hands of a human,” said Rabe, a biological science technician with the Yellowstone Wolf, Cougar and Elk Project.
“It gives us peace to know that she went in a natural manner,” Rabe added.
That sentiment was echoed by Montana resident Jeff Reed, who followed 907F for years.
“She was a cool wolf,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “A lot of us are just glad she died a natural death inside the park.”
Fight With Rival Pack
Wolf 907F was outfitted with a radio collar, and Rabe studied and tracked her movements for several years.
On Dec. 22, 907F and some of her pups were feeding on a bison carcass in the Little America area of Yellowstone, which is west of Slough Creek.
They were on the north side of the Yellowstone River. The Rescue Creek Pack normally stays on the south of the river. But for some reason that day, they crossed the river and got into a fight with the Junction Butte wolves, Rabe said.
Wolf 907 survived the battle, but her wounds eventually brought her down.
“I could hear that her radio collar was still signaling ‘life,’ so she was still living,” Rabe said.
Rabe also heard 907F on Christmas Eve, but didn’t see her.
On Thursday morning, 907F’s collar was signaling “mortality,” Rabe said. The collars give off that signal if a wolf hasn’t moved for 12 hours or more.
It’s apparent that Wolf 907F died sometime Wednesday, Christmas Day.
Rabe recovered 907F’s body. It’s been frozen for preservation, pending a full necropsy, she said.
An Amazing Wolf
Throughout her life, 907F beat the odds time and again.
Around age 4, she lost her left eye, although researchers aren’t sure how that happened.
In later years, she was also observed walking with a limp, although that didn’t seem to phase her either.
She spent many years as a leader of the Junction Butte Pack and gave birth to several litters of pups. Biologists were amazed when, despite her advanced age, she gave birth to yet another litter this past spring.
She was “the most reproductively successful wolf in Yellowstone History,” Rabe said, although the exact number of pups she had remains unknown.
Her 2024 litter included three or four pups, at least two of which survived, retired rancher and Silver Gate, Montana, resident Krisztina Gayler told Cowboy State Daily.
Gayler followed 907F from the time the famous wolf was born, and said she was “very, very sad” about her death.
Monotone Howl, Huge Legacy
Reed likes to record and study wolf and elk sounds, and said that Wolf 907F had a unique voice.
“She had a very low-pitched howl,” he said. “I always laughed, because she had a flat howl, like a monotone. And I always thought that she was saying, ‘That’s because I’m so old, I don’t give a shit. I’m just going to give this monotone howl.’”
Gaylor said she was impressed with 907F’s tenacity.
“She absolutely proved that old, individual animals matter to the family because of their strength, their resilience,” Gaylor said. “She left a lot of knowledge for us.”
Wyoming photographer Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven compared 907F with Wyoming’s most famous wild animal, Grizzly 399, who was struck and killed by a vehicle in October at age 28.
“907 was becoming a celebrity in her own right,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
“Although it (the fight with other wolves) would have been violent, it’s more comforting to know she died a natural death rather than suffering 399’s fate,” he added.
Rabe said that 907F was a remarkably calm and even-tempered wolf.
“I think that one of the things I loved about her,” she said. “Even though she was a leader, she was nonchalant.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
