Tracking the Gray Wolf in Yellowstone | Explorer
The wolf is the world's largest dog—a top predator and an iconic animal that roamed freely across North America for tens of thousands of years. But in the early 20th century, a ruthless war was waged against these cunning carnivores in an effort to stop them preying on livestock. This resulted in the gray wolf being almost completely wiped out in the continental US. But then, in 1995, a controversial wolf recovery program began in Yellowstone with surprising results.
Here's my journey in search of America's elusive canine. [music playing] [eagle screeching] This is the most remote area in the contiguous United States: the world's first national park—Yellowstone. I'm landing at Lone Mountain Ranch. It's a National Geographic Unique Lodge. I'm just a short drive away from Yellowstone National Park, where there is an abundance of wildlife: 5,000 bison. And then they've got grizzly bears, and also wolves. And that is the animal that I'm going in search of.
Wolves were effectively wiped out in Yellowstone, eradicated for more than 70 years after a bounty was put on their head. Without this apex predator, the balance of Yellowstone's ecosystem was thrown completely out of whack. Animals overgrazed. Trees and grasses vanished. Vast tracts of the once-great wilderness were stripped bare.
Today, there are about 100 wolves roaming Yellowstone National Park, a sprawling territory more than three times the size of Rhode Island. The wolves are out there, but they're hard to find, which is why we're hooking up with Doug Smith. Doug is the lead wolf biologist in Yellowstone.
“How you doing?”
“Welcome to Yellowstone.”
“Oh, thanks very much. Yeah. We got a good day. Fresh snowfall. This is wolf weather. I got a crew on that butte right there right at this moment tracking wolves.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “What are the chances of us seeing a wolf near?”
DOUG SMITH: “Well, it's really hard to find them. I'm just going to do a listen, this plateau here.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “You can actually work out where they are. That's kind of cool.”
DOUG SMITH: “Oh, yeah. Well, with these wolves, we collared in December. And they've been hanging around here. I'm not getting a signal here. Yeah, Jack. Do you have any visuals up there?”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “So they're all around us, but trying to pick them out of the wilderness is tough. But we'll go out and see what we can find.”
“All right, sounds good.” [atmospheric music]
“Yeah, there's some bison tracks here. Some elk as well. That's mostly what the wolves are after. They don't like prey on the bison so much, I think for obvious reasons.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Yeah. Size matters.”
DOUG SMITH: “It does.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Yeah. Doug. Off in the distance there, bison. Wow, man.” [tense music]
“They may look docile, but bison are one of Yellowstone's most dangerous inhabitants. With adults weighing over a ton, they're the largest land mammal in North America. Despite their size, they're incredibly agile and can reach speeds up to 35 miles an hour and have a history of charging humans if they feel threatened.”
DOUG SMITH: “We're going to have to belly around them. Skirt around them. Yeah. I like that idea.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “So it's a 2-million-acre park. And how many wolves in all of Yellowstone, do you think?”
DOUG SMITH: “About 100.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “So that's a pretty tough challenge.”
DOUG SMITH: “Oh, yeah. Well, we radio collar them. All our studies are based upon having marked wolves.”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “Doug and his team can only keep track of the wolves if they catch and collar them—”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “—which they do once a year midwinter.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “You got it?”
DOUG SMITH: “This is a standard VHF collar. The pups, we can't put the collar on too tight. It will still grow. We do a full physical exam, and these are fully-developed adult teeth, and there's not much wear here. This is a wolf probably in the prime of its life.”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “Monitoring the wolves' growth—”
DOUG SMITH: “122.”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “—as well as taking blood samples provides important data of the pack's overall health, genetic makeup, and exposure to disease.”
DOUG SMITH: “A little bit of mange here. This pack's been suffering from that. This is a two-year-old. She bred this year—we think from field observations—so its teats are larger than normal.”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “With the birth of each new cub or the death of an elder, the pack's numbers fluctuate, so Doug's team has to track down these collared wolves again in late winter. That's what we're doing now. But as I'm experiencing firsthand, finding them is no simple task.”
“No signal.”
“No signal, OK. But I'm hearing the plane, so that's probably our best bet. Wait and see what they get. Plane always gets them. He's got an antenna strapped to the strut of the wing to track the wolves. So when he gets them, he's going to call us. That's right here. So that big white slope is where another pack is. That's Upper Hill Roaring. So we've got two packs stacked up right here. So we're surrounded by wolves, but can't see any. Welcome to wildlife biology.” [chuckles]
“All right, let's see if we can help the crew find them.”
“Yeah.” [atmospheric music]
DOUG SMITH: “See if you see a bone or something exposed. That's what we're looking for. And you know what? That's ribs.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Yeah?”
DOUG SMITH: “A dead elk.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “He got eagle-ized.”
DOUG SMITH: “You want to pull it up?”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “[grunts]”
DOUG SMITH: “There you go.”
“Yeah.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Oh, wow. The way these rib bones are bitten right off, that would be the work of a wolf?”
DOUG SMITH: “Or coyote. So this would have been, how big? Oh, Jesus, this is a full-grown bull elk. So we're talking—750 pounds. And this is all that's left, pretty much? Well, there's going to be other bones in here. I don't know if we'll find more.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Ah, there's a lot of blood in there, look. This is proof positive that these wolves killed it, and it bled. And it goes into the snow, and that is something we use as a tip that it was killed. I guess we're a little late to dinner.”
DOUG SMITH: “We are. We're going to keep working.”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “Just when it seems we may never encounter any of these reclusive predators—”
DOUG SMITH: “Wait a second, Phil.”
PHIL KEOGHAN (VOICEOVER): “—Doug gets a tip from a fellow ranger.”
“And so what was her tip? It was just down the road here?”
DOUG SMITH: “Yes. In the middle of Lamar Valley, the pack of wolves is visible on a kill. But we'll see if we can find it.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Sounds good. Maybe on top of that mound.”
DOUG SMITH: “I'm trying to get set up.” [foreboding music]
“There's only three wolves. And I'm just trying to see if I can get glimpses.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “So we're looking a mile and a half away to try to pick out a wolf that is pretty camouflaged out there.”
“Yeah.” [foreboding music]
“Damn, I'm not finding him.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “So Doug, this could be our last shot at this, huh?”
DOUG SMITH: “It might be. I mean, wait a second, Phil. You should check this out.” [uplifting music]
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Oh, yeah, I got them. Oh, wow. Wow, that is amazing!”
DOUG SMITH: “They're single file on a trail, classic wolf travel. Looks like a scent trail around, maybe. A little bathroom break.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “[chuckles] Wow, that is spectacular stuff. They really are moving. Yeah. She's in deep snow now. Changing the lead here. I can't believe we picked out two wolves maybe a mile and a half away.”
DOUG SMITH: “Yeah. Now, there should be a third. The third wolf in their pack might be over there.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Whoa, hold on. Is that a wolf? On the ridge!”
DOUG SMITH: “Oh, yeah. She's momma of that other female.”
[howling]
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Oh my god. You can hear it howling. Amazing. You know, there's three ways to experience a wolf. You see it, you see their tracks. But hearing them howl is by far the best of the three.”
[howling]
PHIL KEOGHAN: “Whoa, there they go.”
DOUG SMITH: “They picked her howl up.”
PHIL KEOGHAN: “So they're headed over towards their momma now?”
“Yeah. They're looking for her. Big part of wolf life is their social nature. This is just extraordinary. This is what we came for.”
DOUG SMITH: “Oh, yeah. I mean, I can't believe how lucky you got.”
[howling]