Wolves in Yellowstone National Park have been increasingly preying on bison, but going after them can be a dangerous undetaking, as the Junction Butte wolf pack recently learned.
The pack played a game of cat-and-mouse with a group of bison last week, waiting for a vulnerable baby bison to separate from the herd, wildlife photographer and conservationist Julie Argyle told Cowboy State Daily.
She watched the game unfold, and caught a video clip of the moment when the wolves finally saw an opportunity, and went for it.
When a yearling calf bison and its mother became separated from the main group, the chase was on.
With the wolves hot on their tails, the two bison sprinted back toward the safety of the main group, with the mother bison putting herself between her calf and the predators.
They made it in time.
That’s when the mother and another adult bison, which appeared to be a huge bull, went on the offensive, lowering their heads and lunging at the wolves. They also kicked viciously with their hind legs.
Argyle said that as near as she could tell, all the wolves and bison walked away from the encounter intact.
The wolves didn’t sink their teeth into any bison, but also managed to escape the angry bovines’ potentially crushing blows.
Bison Is On The Wolf Menu
Wolf packs in Yellowstone in recent years have been shifting toward preying on bison, National Park Service wildlife biologist Dan Stahler previously told Cowboy State Daily.
That’s partly because of shrinking elk numbers in the park’s northern region.
Wolves risk injury or death when they hunt any large animals, but with bison, the risk factor increases dramatically, Stahler said.
“Wolves are persistent,” Stahler said. A bison kill “is usually a long-lasting event, just because it’s so difficult, and it’s dangerous. We’ve documented wolves getting killed hunting bison over the years.”
He added that wolves’ bison hunting tactics involve patience — waiting and watching a herd, looking for an opening.
In other words, just the sort of thing that Argyle witnessed and took video of.
Argyle said that she’s familiar with the Junction Butte pack, which currently has about 11 members. Despite their failure that day, they’re experienced bison hunters, and she’s seen them succeed on other occasions.
The late winter and spring this year has been good for bison hunting, she said.
Many of the elk left to go spend the winter north of the park near Gardiner, Montana. But the bison lingered inside the park, perhaps to avoid bison hunts, also north of the Yellowstone, Argyle said.
‘That’s The Way Of The Wolf’
Wolf packs have fascinating social structures. They’re highly territorial, and sometimes fights break out between packs.
Sometimes old friends become foes, or vise versa.
That’s what happened with the Junction Butte Pack, Argyle said.
They used to be led by an alpha female, one of Yellowstone’s most famous wolves, 907F.
Wolf 907F was 11.8 years old when she died. That’s a lifespan nearly unheard of for a wild wolf. Wolves in Yellowstone National Park typically live an average of 3.5to 4 years, according to wildlife biologists.
Wolf 907F died on Christmas Day 2024 from injuries she suffered a few days earlier during a fight with member of the Rescue Creek Pack.
The Rescue Creek Pack began as an offshoot of the Junction Butte Pack.
Since 907F’s death, things have come full circle for the two packs.
The Junction Butte Pack traveled out of the park into Montana, where more of its key members died, likely killed by hunters, Argyle said.
However, those openings prompted some males from the Rescue Creek pack rejoined the Junction Butte pack. And now the Junction Butte pack is thriving again, Argyle said.
“It provided a better future for the Junction Butte Pack, after some of the older members were lost in Montana,” she said.
“As sad as it was, her (wolf 907F) being killed, that’s the way of the wolf,” Argyle added.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
