527 is gone.

It is with a heavy heart that I write yet another obituary for a wolf that was part of our lives for 7 years. 527 was one of nine wolves that have been shot in a backcountry wolf hunt district in Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park. She was on the Buffalo Plateau but outside of the boundary. She was a one-of-a-kind wolf.

Born the daughter of 21 and 42, she came by way of greatness. She left the Druids as a yearling and joined her Druid female sibling, 217 (alpha female), in the Slough Creek pack. She spent the next 4 years with the uncollared black alpha that came after 217 and 380 and the crew with Slough. She was the beta female for a time and bred one year with beta Slough male 377 (one of the Mollie boys) as we watched from Picnic. She, too, suffered all of the hardships and challenges that 716 went through with the exception of being driven out by 380.

527 was a wolf that marched to the beat of a very different drummer. She was the most cautious wolf I have ever watched. There was no road stuff for her. She always took action and asked questions later. I would always notice her making her way to her secret spot. We used to think that she had some sort of secret hole near the east end of Jasper Bench near the row of trees. She would eat on a carcass and then disappear there. I always thought that she went to feed the pups in the dark of night. After she left Slough she spent a lot of time in some rocks east of the Slough den area. Her signal was always in the same spot, but we could not find her.

I knew that when she moved to Hellroaring she would be the one if any would make it there. The fate of other packs who inhabited that area was dismal. I thought that she could make a go of it. She has been successful there for two years. She spent a lot of that time out of sight from the road. She liked the upper drainage of Hellroaring and spent a lot of time there out of the way of other packs. She did not roam out of that area much, and when she did, it was to the north and out of the way of other packs.

We were so hopeful that she and her beta female, 716, would go back to the traditional Slough area. It was our hope, but I am not sure she thought it was such a good idea. Their past history there had been such a nightmare, I am not sure she wanted to test fate again.

We will never know. It is such a pity that we have watched her all her life and she has added so much to the history of the wolves of Yellowstone and now she is gone. These two females recently shot in the hunt (527 and 716) were two of the most interesting wolves I have ever watched in the last 5 years. What behavior we have seen. When Rick writes his book, all of their lives will contribute to knowing and understanding wolves in the wild and these girls will be standouts. I am a better person for knowing them and as Rick often says about 21 and 42, I feel, I, too, have walked in the footsteps of giants for knowing these two brave, intelligent wolves.

I am hoping that a buffer zone will be formed around the park. If it is to be, loss of life in 527's pack, the Cottonwoods, will be a large contributing factor. May their deaths help to save the lives of other wolves from the park. May their deaths not be in vain.

Laurie Lyman

October 5, 2009

Ed Note: Help make sure Wolf 527's death was not in vain and take action.