Protecting and Defending Yellowstone and all Rocky Mountain Wolves

Her boldness was on display each year as she led her pack throughout central and northern Yellowstone, equating to a range larger than any other pack before or since, and she was thus seen by more visitors to the park – more elementary through college students, more educators and researchers, and more folks from all walks of life, and from all over the world – than any other wolf. She taught the world the lessons of the wolf and why the wolf is essential to the planet to thousands upon thousands of humans.

And she was taken from the world in 2017 before her life’s natural cycle ended.

Courtesy of: Leo Leckie, Wolf Historian

Co-Founder & Manager of the Yellowstone Wolf Family Tree

Her mother the ’06 Female was born in 2006 into the Agate Creek Pack to the famous alpha pair 472F and 113M, an amazing wolf pack known for their unique ability to socially adapt with and into other wolf packs. Her mother’s hunting prowess was unmatched throughout the wild lands of Yellowstone; and we witness upon numerous occasions this trait passed on to 926.

Her grandmother 472 was born in 2001 into the Druid Peak Pack to then-alpha female 40F and then raised by her alpha father 21M and aunt 42F, one of the park’s most famous alpha pairs. 926’s grandmother was enamored of a young Chief Joseph Pack male, 113, and left her natal pack to help found the Agate Creek Pack with him.

926’s great grandfather 21M was born into the Rose Creek Pack in 1995 to the first alpha pair to leave the park’s acclimation pens earlier that year – her great-great grandparents alphas 9F and 10M, the first wolves to howl and stride freely over the landscape of Yellowstone in 70 years. In fact, 926’s great-great grandmother, 9, is indeed the mitochondrial eve of Yellowstone wolves, with 70% of the genetic base of all Yellowstone wolves attributed to her. Today, an appropriately named iconic landmark in the heartland of her 9’s first territory is named “Mom’s Ridge” in her honor.

926’s great grandfather 21 was an amazing wolf. He was big and barrel-chested, and would blast into his opponents like they were bowling pins. He never lost a fight, but also never took the life of an opponent. He would best the other wolf, and then let him go having made his point.

926 shone bright among the fifth generation of her bloodline in the 25-year history of the greatest success story, the restoration of Wolves and the ecosystem in which she lived. Her struggles along the way with fallen mates, mange and few surviving pups made her resilience and steadfastness shine all the brighter.

Her ancestors greet her now … with tails wagging high, body bumps and licks a’plenty as she joins them among the pantheon of the brightest stars of this greatest success story.

Courtesy of: Leo Leckie, Wolf Historian

Co-Founder & Manager of the Yellowstone Wolf Family Tree