Pack of Wolves Chasing Bison – YouTube
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On Christmas Day 2024, tragedy struck the Junction Butte wolf pack in Yellowstone. The legendary one-eyed leader, Wolf 907F, was killed in a confrontation with a rival pack. Now, in a new video, the Junction Butte pack is trying to catch bison, but to no avail.
Wildlife photographer and conservationist Julie Argyle captured the moment gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Junction Butte chased two bison (Bison bison) as they tried to separate a yearling calf from its mother, Cowboy State Daily reported.
The mother stood between her cub and the hungry wolves until the pair joined the rest of the group. Soon another adult bison came to the mother's aid, ending the hunt attempt.
The video shows that the Junction Butte wolf pack has rebounded after the loss of Wolf 907F thanks to some of the wolves that have become part of it.
The Junction Butte wolf pack gained public attention under the wise leadership of Wolf 907F. The “Queen of the Wolves” produced a record 10 litters of pups and lived more than twice as long as most Yellowstone wolves – over 11 years, while the average lifespan is about five years.
The death of Wolf 907F occurred on December 22, 2024. The rival Rescue Creek Pack attacked Wolf 907F and part of her pack — they were separated at the time — while feeding on a bison carcass on the north bank of the Yellowstone River. The Rescue Creek Pack was once an offshoot of the Junction Butte Pack and usually lived south of the river. But on this occasion, they decided to cross the river and attack Junction Butte. In the wild, wolves rarely die of old age, but are most often victims of territorial conflicts with other wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
An example of a Yellowstone wolf pack surrounding a bison during a hunt.
“In a protected place like Yellowstone, the leading cause of wolf death is interpack conflict,” Kira Cassidy, a researcher with the Yellowstone Wolf Project, told Live Science last year, when wolf 907F gave birth to a record-breaking 10th litter. “That accounts for about half of the deaths,” she added.
Wolf 907F was seriously injured in an encounter with the Rescue Creek pack, and data from her radio collar indicates she died on December 25. Her death occurred shortly after the pack briefly left the park, where people shot and killed two other members.
In January, researchers spotted several males from the Rescue Creek pack with some of the remaining females from the Junction Butte pack. At the time, Cassidy told National Park Explorer that wolf mating season begins in February, and it was likely that some wolves would switch packs to mate.
The pack appears to be thriving again with the males from the Rescue Creek pack, Cowboy State Daily reports. The wolves may not have caught the bison on video, but bison hunting is a difficult task. The video shows that an adult bison can put up a fight and viciously defend itself and its herd.
TOPICS bison
Sourse: www.livescience.com
