Tom Mazzarisi, ranger at Madison in YNP told me that things have not gone well for the 5 remaining Haydens who had been hanging out in the Madison River since being attacked and driven from the Canyon area by the larger Mollies Pack.
He told me something I didn’t know — last winter they spent much of their time in the Madison River area. So it is only natural that the one remaining Hayden adult led the 4 remaining pups to the Madison after being attacked by the Mollies.
The Madison isn’t safe country, however. Some believed they would be attacked by the nearby Cougar Creek Pack, but instead it appears they were attacked by the much larger Gibbon Pack which recently moved up through the area and back into the Gibbon Meadows area. Now it looks like the Haydens are down to three — the adult female, a gray pup and the black pup (who has become pretty large and an effective hunter).
They were last spotted near Old Faithful and moving south toward Craig Pass .
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is President of the Western Watersheds Project.
Sorry to hear this about the Hayden pack. I know this is how things go in nature and they are wild animals, but I’m sure all of us who had the honor of seeing the 5 pups this year felt some kind of connection to them. I’ve always loved to watch wolves and felt they were “kindred spirits.” May God watch over the remaining three and keep them safe this winter. As for the black pup, I knew the minute I saw him he would become an Alpha someday. Maybe he will still get the chance to be.
We were honored this summer to see the pack when led by the White Wolf. It is really too bad that this happened, but like someone said this is how nature works. Had the wolfs been hurt by snowmobiles or cars, it would have been much more difficult to take. Good luck to the pack.