Wolf 1090F, the famed matriarch of the Mollie’s Pack, is set to officially hit age 12.5 years on Nov. 15, making her likely the oldest wolf ever in Yellowstone National Park.
That’s based on an estimated birth date of April 15, 2014.
And it will at least tie her with the previous record-holder, Wolf 478F, the alpha female of the Cougar Creek pack. She died of old age in late 2015 at an estimated age of 12.5.
Fans told Cowboy State Daily that Wolf 1090F will have no problem breaking that tie and living for a long while yet.
“She’s feisty still. She’s out there doing her thing,” said wildlife photographer Julie Argyle.
Wolves in Yellowstone National Park typically live an average of 3.5-4 years, according to wildlife biologists.
Evaded Death Vows
Even in her old age, Wolf 1090F can cause a stir. She became the focal point of controversy this fall, when some hunters vowed to kill her during Wyoming’s wolf season.
The Mollie’s denned outside of the safe boundaries of Yellowstone this summer and early fall, in one of Wyoming’s wolf hunt areas.
At one point, wolf advocates offered a $10,000 bounty for the identity of hunters who killed 1090F or any other Mollie’s members, but that bounty was taken down before hunting season opened.
Most of Mollie’s pack returned to the park before the hunting season opened. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department later confirmed that the wolf hunt quota was met in that area with no Mollie’s pack wolves killed.
Grandma Status
Because they denned outside of Yellowstone, 1090F and the Mollie’s weren’t as visible as in years past.
Even so, wildlife photographer Deby Dixon said she saw the old wolf recently. And other than having what could be a slight limp, “she looked pretty doggone good.”
She added that she’s confident 1090F will die of old age “instead of a gunshot.”
Wolf & Wildlife Advocates founder Kim Bean said 1090F “doesn’t look a day over 9.”
“Her being the oldest wolf in the park and carrying on as the matriarchal symbol is awesome,” she added.
Wolf 1090F might not be the alpha female of the Mollie’s any longer, Bean added. The pups the pack raised this summer were apparently from one of 1090F’s grown offspring.
However, 1090F is apparently still actively involved in the pack and spent a lot of time “baby sitting” the pups.
“She’s been put into that grandma status,” Bean said.
And 1090F isn’t a tottering grandma, despite the fact that she “is, or is very close to being, the oldest wolf in Yellowstone history,” Argyle said.
“She has a lot of pep left in her,” she said.
Old Wolf Hall of Fame
1090F has a way to go to be the oldest-ever wolf in the Rocky Mountain West, if wolves that lived outside of Yellowstone are included.
The oldest wolf ever recorded in the region was B7, an Idaho male. He was estimated to be 13.75 years old when he was struck and killed by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 83 in January 2007.
Wolf 840M was another male and a member of the Ishawooa pack west of Cody. He was 13 when he died of old age in July 2024.
The famed one-eyed Wolf 907F was 11.8 years old when she died on Christmas Day 2024, a couple of days after being injured in a fight with wolves from a rival pack.
Wolf watchers also fondly remember an uncollared, unnumbered wolf called the “White Lady," the alpha female of the Canyon pack.
She was thought to be about age 12 when she was illegally shot and wounded near Gardiner, Montana, in April 2017, while pregnant with five pups.
Her gunshot injuries were so severe wildlife agents decided to euthanize her.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
