For years people have been asked me whatever happened to famous wolf 253M, the wolf that went to Utah and later became the beta male of the Druid Pack in Yellowstone Park.
I thought by now this 3-legged wolf would have passed on, but it has now been confirmed that he was gunned down near an elk feedground in the vicinity of Daniel, Wyoming this weekend. He was not bothering livestock, but rather unknowingly protecting Wyoming’s elk from chronic wasting disease by chasing them away from the state’s system of disease breeding elk feedlots that turn elk into livestock for the winter. A female wolf was also shot at the same time.
Daniel is in Wyoming’s new you-can kill-any-wolf-you-see-by-any method zone.
Somehow I think some folks are going to very unhappy about this.
Note on April 2. The Salt Lake Tribune posted a story on this today, citing my blog. I put this up without a second source (kind of risky), but this morning I confirmed from a second source that it was indeed 253).
More on April 2. Beloved ‘Wolf 253′ killed in Wyoming. KSL News (Salt Lake City)
Wolf 253M on the right. Notice his small fourth leg. Wolf 21M (left) and 42F (front). Steve Justad furnished this photo of the Druid “big 3” taken back about 2004. Copyright © Steve Justad
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