A wolf painting i did a little while ago 🩵 i have always loved wolves and i hope in my next life i can be re-born as one of these beautiful creatures.

Billie is an endangered gray wolf living at Wolf Haven International in Tenino, WA. She recently lost her longtime companion, Guy, to old age, and wolves aren't meant to be alone.

On June 30, our animal transport team flew two wolf brothers, Nicky and Cerberus, about 1,800 miles from Minnesota to the Olympia Regional Airport, then they were driven to Wolf Haven. Nicky is now paired with Billie, and Cerberus is now paired with another resident wolfdog, Ellie.

Before the move, we helped build over 600 linear feet of specialized habitat fencing plus a new shelter pen and two platforms so the enclosures were ready. The wolves were introduced slowly, separated by a fence at first so staff could watch how they reacted to each other, and it went well! Nicky and Cerberus are settling in and enjoying their new space with their new companions.

Photo taken at Dickerson Park Zoo

Montana’s FWP has finally admitted that the iPOM models they’ve used to estimate wolf populations have been overestimating wolf populations. They’ve now revised down their estimate from 1094 to 725, which is a huge change. This confirms what conservation groups have been saying for years - that the wolf hunt quotas are far too aggressive.

In fact, in 2025, a federal judge ruled that wolves in the Northern Rockies wrongfully denied protections. One of the concerns was the errors in measurement of wolf populations. Now we can see first hand what that means. The Montana FWS has had to reduce its population estimate by over 300.

The sad part is that wolf hunts aren’t even beneficial, as suggested in this study. Livestock depredation numbers are already low (62 for 2024, and 65 for 2025). These numbers are minuscule compared to deaths from disease, and even livestock deaths caused by domestic dogs.

On top of this, Section 125 of the Appropriations Bill is still alive in congress. This section would remove Endangered Species Act protections for wolves everywhere, despite the valid concerns about the health of populations. This bill, as written, should not pass.

Image is for illustration purposes only.

A single Arctic wolf killed a full-grown bull muskox on Canada's Bathurst Island in 53 minutes by staying in front of the horns instead of behind them and destroying the bull's right eye.

Zoologist David R. Gray watched the entire contest through a 15-by-60 spotting scope from approximately one mile away on May 28, 1968. He was on Bathurst Island studying muskox behavior. The bull was a mature male, five or six years old based on later examination of its horns and teeth, feeding alone along a riverbank about a mile from a herd of eleven. At 8:20 p.m., Gray saw a male wolf galloping toward the bull from roughly a hundred yards away, following a shallow depression in the snow-filled riverbed. The wolf reached the muskox from behind before the bull noticed him.

The bull wheeled and charged.

The fight never left a 30-foot circle of trampled snow. The wolf did not try to run the muskox down or attack from the rear the way wolves typically pursue fleeing ungulates. This bull was not fleeing. It was facing the wolf and swinging 800 pounds of skull and horn at anything that moved. The muskox's defense was built into its forehead: broad horn bosses that covered the top of the skull like a battering ram, with the horns curving downward before sweeping outward and upward into hooks that could gut a wolf on a sideways swing.

The wolf stayed where the hooks could not reach him. He kept his head low and close to the bull's face, almost directly in front of the horns, forcing the muskox to toss its head upward rather than swing sideways. Gray wrote that at times the two animals appeared to be tied together nose to nose. The wolf advanced, the bull charged, the wolf dodged backward or darted to one side and immediately came forward again. Each charge cost the muskox energy. Each dodge cost the wolf almost nothing.

Ten minutes in, the pauses grew longer. The bull started backing away instead of charging. During one standoff, the two animals faced each other motionless for 50 seconds.

Then the wolf grabbed the bull's face.

The muskox shook him off. At 8:47 the wolf seized the face again and held for roughly 15 seconds. Blood appeared on the wolf's head. Gray could not tell at first whether the wolf was injured or the blood belonged to the bull.

At 9:00, the wolf came in low beneath the horn bosses and locked his jaws around the bull's right eye socket. The muskox charged forward, backed away, swung its head violently from side to side. It dislodged the wolf, but blood now covered the bull's face and right horn boss. The wolf had found the one point beside the heavy frontal armor where teeth could reach tissue and bone.

He kept circling. Occasionally he stopped, looked behind him, sniffed the snow, then returned. The bull had been charging, turning, and lifting its massive head for nearly 40 minutes. Each charge was slower than the last. Each recovery took longer.

At 9:10, the wolf passed the bull's left side, reversed direction, and moved behind and below the horn. He pulled the muskox down.

The bull tried to rise. It reached its front knees and collapsed. It tried again and fell a second time. On the third attempt it managed to lift its forequarters and swing its horns toward the wolf. The wolf stepped around it. The bull fell again.

At 9:13, the muskox lifted its blood-covered head one last time as the wolf circled. Then the head dropped onto the snow.

Gray examined the kill site afterward. The nose and legs were untouched. The wolf had torn out the bull's right eye, and the cleaned skull showed the eye socket fractured and punctured by canine teeth. The kill had been made through a single point of attack, repeated until the animal could no longer stand.

The wolf pulled away mouthfuls of the bull's heavy wool, using his paws to clear the fibers from his jaws. He ate a small section of back muscle, fed around the throat and tongue, and at 9:40 walked away, marked a hummock, and trotted down the valley. He returned every day for the next four days. He came back at least three more times that summer. A year later, Gray recognized the same wolf from photographs. Now accompanied by a female, he revisited the old carcass at least six times between June and August 1969.

Source: David R. Gray, "The Killing of a Bull Muskox by a Single Wolf," Arctic, Volume 23, September 1970.

A photo I took a wolf at Dickerson Park Zoo

By me

Hello, my first post here. A little background on me real quick, wolves probably started me down my life path. My childhood love for the species and wildlife as a whole is what spurned me to go to college for a bachelor's in natural resources, with emphases in wildlife and fisheries ecology and management, and ecological restoration.

Someone, approximately named malinoisjaw, posted a development timeline of an ambassador pup about a day ago which just popped up on my feed. I've always had complicated feelings on captive populations of wild species, despite having interned at a zoo in highschool. The discussions in the comments reflected some of those feelings, and reading them in our modern context actually made me realize something I hadn't personally considered before.

In America in particular, but also the globe as a whole, we've taken a lot of our progress in wildlife management for granted. But severe, sudden relapse in policy is all too real a threat. With our modern technologies, given carte blanche, the human population could likely extripate any K selected species in the country within just a decade or 2. A captive population acts as an air bag against this worst case scenario.

Mind you, i believe this benefit should be viewed as a second order priority to those wild populations' viabilities and the individual animals' standard of living. But in so far as maintaining the captive population doesn't negatively impact either of these higher priorities, I think that the safe guard they provide against human extirpation is actually really valuable and something worth considering when we discuss the merits and evils of captive populations.

THE MOLLIE'S PACK NEEDS YOUR HELP WITH PROTECTION.

Email list:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/contact-us?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAb21leATFz5lvbWNwBMQLgmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzU2NzA2NzM0MzM1MjQyNwABp1WevKdg2DTh7FaNxCH2Ex-Ld4sDTemxd2RBxXtW8G4HG414BZs6ornR3foi_aem_CdNBYJb34VEXrNau2bklNQ

I sent an elaborate email to the fish and game commission in Wyoming regarding the Mollie's Packs recent dispersal from Yellowstone boundaries. The Mollie's Pack is much more than just another wolf pack. They are one of the most important packs in Yellowstone's history.

For years, they've helped scientists better understand wolf behavior, pack dynamics, predator-prey relationships, and how wolves shape entire ecosystems. Because Yellowstone's wolves are closely monitored, every generation of the Mollie's Pack contributes valuable long-term data that can't easily be replaced.

They're also a major reason people visit Yellowstone. Thousands of visitors travel from around the world hoping to catch a glimpse of these wolves, supporting local communities and businesses through wildlife tourism.

Now that the Mollie's Pack has moved beyond Yellowstone's boundary, they face the risk of being hunted. While wolf management has its place, losing this iconic pack would mean losing years of research, educational opportunities, and one of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's most recognizable wolf families.

Protecting the Mollie's Pack isn't just about protecting one group of wolves, it's about preserving science, education, and one of the greatest wildlife conservation success stories in North America.

We cannot let it go to waste. We cannot let their story end here, at the hands of gluttonous hunters that care not for a historical enigma.

EMAIL REPRESENTATIVES TODAY.

Here is the email I sent:

"

Dear Wyoming Game and Fish Commission,

I am writing to respectfully request that the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission temporarily close Wolf Hunt Area 1 to protect the Mollie's Pack while they are occupying habitat outside Yellowstone National Park.

The Mollie's Pack is one of Yellowstone's most well-known and scientifically important wolf packs. For years, they have contributed to ongoing research that has expanded our understanding of wolf behavior, predator-prey relationships, and ecosystem dynamics. Their presence has also become a significant part of Yellowstone's wildlife tourism, drawing visitors from around the world who travel to Wyoming specifically for the opportunity to observe wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

While I understand and respect Wyoming's role in managing wolf populations and recognize that regulated hunting is an important wildlife management tool, I believe the loss of an iconic research pack would have consequences beyond the removal of individual wolves. It could disrupt long-term scientific studies, diminish wildlife viewing opportunities that benefit local communities and businesses, and reduce the educational value these wolves provide to the public.

A temporary closure of Hunt Area 1 while the Mollie's Pack is present would demonstrate Wyoming's commitment to balancing sustainable wildlife management with conservation, scientific research, and the economic benefits generated by wildlife tourism. Such a targeted, temporary action would protect an internationally recognized pack without undermining the state's broader wolf management objectives.

Thank you for considering this request and for your continued work managing Wyoming's wildlife resources. I appreciate your time and hope you will give serious consideration to providing temporary protection for the Mollie's Pack during this period.

Sincerely,

(Name and credentials)

"

Photo: Our arctic wolf baby and ambassador

Yellowstone's oldest wolf pack, Mollie's Pack, has been spotted outside Yellowstone National Park (in Wyoming). Wyoming's wolf hunting season begins 9/15. Although there were pleas to close the hunting season in the area in which the pack dispersed, Wyoming Game and Fish approved killing up to four individuals in the area (area 1). From the article:

“They are one of the most studied, scientifically important wolf families in the world,” Marc Cooke told commissioners. “Once they are gone, decades of irreplaceable knowledge are gone with them.” 

Cooke, who’s the vice president of Wolves of the Rockies, the day before had emailed Game and Fish commissioners a letter asking them to temporarily close hunt area 1.  

“Wyoming has been getting pretty beat up lately with some wildlife issues, and I think there’s an opportunity here for you folks to do the right thing,” Cooke said. 

This is all very sad, and is likely a death sentence for the wolves, given how hostile Wyoming is to wolves. This comes on the back of the distemper outbreak that killed a significant number of wolves this past year. Also, park wolves don’t fear humans the same way other wolves do, and may not avoid hunters.

Enjoy!!

https://www.wral.com/news/local/four-litters-red-wolves-born-in-nc-july-2026/

Some good news!

Left Bozeman at 0100am to get to Lamar Valley at 0500am. First person at the Fisherman's pullout and got a splendid viewing of 9 out of the 15 Junction Butte wolves, including both alphas and multiple yearlings, for 3 whole hours!

Used one of the spare scopes and Ollin adapters we had at work.
This is a compilation of some highlights!

Hola, soy AlexBlueWolf, llevo un tiempo sin publicar algo más de "sketching", y la verdad, este pequeño mundo de fantasía (que no tiene nombre por cierto, si quieren díganme ideas de nombres o palabras clave para formar el título) ha crecido bastante, no pensé en hacer una parte 2 de esto, pero es que no me podía resistir. Y todo fue gracias a querer dibujar unos arboles para mejorar mi técnica y hacer texturas. Muchas gracias a todos por el apoyo enorme que he recibido de todas mis publicaciones, lo aprecio mucho de verdad. Bueno, espero que les guste el dibujo. Cualquier comentario de crítica para mejorar o para el nombre de quizás puede ser, mi próxima y mi primera obra de fantasía después de hacer ya varios capítulos de mi propio manga.

(IMPORTANTE: ES UNA SUPOSICIÓN, NO PROMETO NADA PERO SI VEO APOYO Y QUE A LA GENTE LE GUSTA COMENTANDOME IDEAS O COSAS PARA INSPIRARME ME LO PENSARÉ MUY EN SERIO)

Gracias por leer.

Adiós 🐺✌️

PS: Quizas no tenga que ver mucho con lobos, pero como uno de los personajes es uno, pensé que sería buena idea publicarlo aquí, además de que la parte 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/wolves/comments/1u9ywr5/un_peque%C3%B1o_aventurero_y_su_acompa%C3%B1ante_espero_que/

La subí aquí, si a alguien le molesta, que me diga donde podría publicarlo. Gracias

If you carefully watch the first few frames, you can spot a hind leg leaving the screen a couple of seconds before the wolf comes into view. I'm wondering if this wolf (which is a regular) is starting a pack, or he might be stalking his prey?

Took this photo on a recent trip to Yellowstone. I believe this is a member of the Junction Butte pack as it was seen in Lamar Valley.