Weekend With The Wapitis

Written By Isaac Rath and Katie Milesky

Photos by Isaac Rath

On the morning of January 20th, a pack of fourteen wolves from the interior of Yellowstone National Park known as the Wapiti Lake Pack were seen pursuing, harassing, weakening, and eventually killing a bull bison along the banks of the Firehole River. This took place just west of the Grand Loop Road north of Firehole River Drive, and due to this location just across the river, hundreds of employees, rangers, and park visitors could observe from a closer distance than wolves are usually observed from. Over two days, the Wapiti pack was seen coming and going from the kill to feed and chase off ravens and other scavengers, and they were occasionally heard howling in the nearby forests. 

While all wolves in Yellowstone are incredible hunters, the size of their unique family groups determines what size of prey they can attempt to take down with relative safety. To take down a bison, packs are going to want to be at least 11 or 12 wolves strong - 14 or 15 would be even better. An adult bison can be anywhere from 1000-2500 pounds, while the average wolf is around 80-120 pounds. Though game and prey animals are not hunters, it is not unheard of for them to seriously injure or even kill wolves while being hunted. A swift kick, a lucky horn/antler puncture, or even being stepped on can be fatal to the much smaller canine, and about 10% of wolf deaths are a result of incidents while hunting. Because of this, it is much safer for wolves to go after prey animals that are already sick, injured, or otherwise weakened. In return, this helps to maintain the health of that prey animal’s population.

I was lucky enough to be off from my job as a driver and guide on the 20th and 21st of January, so I was able to spend nearly two full days watching and photographing the wolves. Day 1, I arrived after the wolves had chased the bison across the river, part of his tail had been ripped off, and he was already bleeding. A few wolves were with the bison, while others rested in the trees. For the next few hours, the wolves took turns harassing the bison, never giving it a chance to rest. Any time it tried to sit down, within seconds a wolf was coming up behind it to nip and bite at its injuries. The Wapiti Lake pack has several almost one-year-old pups, and they learned hunting techniques from the elder wolves of the group. The lead male, 1270M, was the most aggressive, rarely resting and usually being the one to jump up first when the bison started to lay down every few minutes. 

As the sun started to go down, it seemed like it was going to come to an end soon. At one point, several wolves came out of the forest and nine of them were on the bison at once, ripping at his hindquarters. Rather than facing the genuine reality of being consumed while still alive, the bison chose to flee into the near-freezing Fire Hole River. At this point, we started packing away equipment and moving back towards coaches, as we’d need to quickly retreat if the bison decided to cross the river- though not many of us believed he had the strength to do so. Over the few hours, we watched as the bison visibly weakened, and the loss of hope of any escape seemed to drain away as the hours passed. As the bison took a few steps before collapsing into the river, we knew it wasn’t getting up again.

At this point, our emotions shifted. The bison went to a section of the river that was too deep for the wolves to follow. He kept trying to keep his head above water, but every few minutes his head would sink under, and just when we thought he was done trying to fight it, he would pop his nose back up above the water long enough to get a few breaths. The wolves were pacing the edges of the river, whimpers could occasionally be heard. They had spent nine hours at this point, working to bring down this bison. After all that time and effort, would they not have a meal to show for it at the end? We waited for another 45 minutes until it was almost dark, and the last coach back to Old Faithful Village was leaving and we had to leave. This was about 5:30 pm. Another coach had left the village late and informed us that about 20 minutes later, the bison had finally succumbed and been swept down about 80-100 yards down the river to a much shallower section where the wolves could get to it. 

The next morning, January 21st, I woke up early to jump on a coach and get dropped off at the site, camera and tripod charged, and ready to spend the day there. At this point, the majority of the bison was gone, his head and rib cage sticking out of the water. Upon arrival at about 8:30 am, the wolves were in the nearby forests, and we listened as they howled and barked together. Over the day, they came and went from the carcass, feeding at their leisure. Sometimes, they shared it with ravens, who along with bald eagles, had been watching and waiting patiently for their turn since the day before. The bison was on the east side of the river now, closer to the road, so people needed to be further downriver or safely in coaches to watch the scene today. When there were lots of coaches around and people on both the north and south sides of the carcass, the wolves would stop feeding and leave or not come to the carcass at all. At times when the number of people present was small, they would stay and eat for a while. While it is a really neat experience, especially for me as a wildlife biologist and photographer, to be able to observe wolves this close, we need to be sure we are not inhibiting their natural behaviors with our presence. This, as well as providing food for animals including wolves can become conditioned to view humans as a source of food, which can lead to wolf/human conflicts, and eventually wolves being euthanized. The Wapiti Pack had had issues with this in the past and may need to be hazed away from villages and roads again soon for both their safety and wellbeing and ours. 

While this was an incredible experience to be able to spend all of this time watching this wolf hunt from a close distance, it was also very intense, emotionally taxing, and raw. There was no filtering, so cutting out the gruesome parts and sugarcoating what would happen to that bison. However, over the next week, we watched wolves, coyotes, ravens, eagles, and who knows what else feeding on that one bison. That bison’s sacrifice will help a plethora of other animals survive Yellowstone’s harsh winter and keep the park’s fauna in balance, as well as provide a harsh reminder to dozens of employees and a few hundred guests that Yellowstone always has been, is, and always will be, wild.