Official Wyoming wolf numbers for ’09 released

319 wolves in Wyoming, but as in ’08 only six breeding pairs in Yellowstone Park-

I think it’s clear that Wyoming’s anti-wolf legislature had hoped that the requirement of ten breeding wolf pairs in the state could be met by Yellowstone Park alone, but yesterday’s USFWS release of the 2009 wolf figures for the state show that to be a pipe dream.

The official estimate is 319 wolves in the state, including just 96 in Yellowstone. Several years ago there were over 170 wolves in Yellowstone. As the Yellowstone population has been shrinking the Wyoming wolf population outside the Park is growing. There are now 223 wolves outside the Park with 21 breeding pairs.

If we look at wolf packs (groups of wolves + groups of wolves with a breeding pair) there were 30 packs outside Yellowstone and 14 inside the Park. The average Wyoming pack size is about 7 wolves. The Park size is also about 7 wolves.

At the end of 2008 there were 178 wolves outside Yellowstone in Wyoming and 124 wolves inside Yellowstone for a total of 302. As in 2009, in 2008 there were only 6 breeding pairs in Yellowstone.

Because of the much greater observational accuracy of packs inside Yellowstone Park, I would judge the number of official breeding pairs there (six) to be more accurate than those outside the Park (officially 21).

If you look at the Wyoming wolf pack map, you will see that the NW corner of the state is pretty well saturated with wolves. Any significant future wolf population growth will depend on reduced  mortality in the numerous and usually transient small packs south of Jackson Hole which are continually disrupted by WS livestock control actions.

Yellowstone quake swarm continues

After dropping off some, quakes increase again-

This time around, fortunately,  fewer folks are predicting doom. 😉

These swarms happen every year or so. With the development of the Internet, blogging, and the realization of the catastrophic potential of the Yellowstone supervolcano, news of these earthquake swarms began to spark alarm when they were reported.  In fact they have come and gone each time making little observable difference.

Large quakes are possible in and near the Park, but not common. The largest since seismology developed was in 1959. This 7.4 quake just northwest of West Yellowstone caused a huge landslide at the mouth of the Madison River Canyon. It dammed the river, buried a number of campers, and created what is now named Quake Lake. In total 35 people died. More information on that quake.

There have been a number of moderate quakes since, and one other large one, a 6.5 quake in 1975 centered near Norris Geyser Basin. None have resulted in any volcanic activity.

More than 1,200 tiny quakes hit Yellowstone Park, but jitters are few.  By Mead Gruver. Associated Press.

~more~

Link to current Yellowstone earthquakes. Yellowstone National Park Special Map

Feb. 10, 2010. Yellowstone earthquake swarm dwindles. Series of quakes is the largest in park since 1985. Jackson Hole News and Guide.