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FRIDAY, SEPT 25, 1998 |
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Volume 2, No 96 | |||
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PARK
WEATHER MORE NEWS The Yellowstone Net Newspaper is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
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PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEF CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS
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by BRUCE GOURLEY YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- A current HBO television special, " Autopsy 5 - America Undercover," - features the tragic death of one of Yellowstone's most magnificent Bull Elks. He was one of the largest elks in Yellowstone and was given the name "Charger" for what he did to photographers who got to close. "Charger" was the main attraction for thousands during the fall Elk rut a few years back. When Charger failed to turn up one morning to attend his harem, park officials became alarmed and began a search. Chargers body was found 1/2 mile from Elk Park meadow and his antlers were hacked off. Months later a taxidermist in Salt Lake City became suspicious when a huge elk rack was brought in to his shop to be mounted. He contacted authorities and through the effort of DNA testing, the rack was proven to belong to Charger. The man was arrested and sentenced to 8 months in prison and a $30,000 fine. This program tells the story how authorities caught the scumbag. The "Charger" segment is highlighted with Stock Yellowstone Video from Yellowstone.net photographer Russ Finley. WARNING: The Charger segment is just a portion of this program, and most of the other segments are not suitable for all viewers, as they contain violent material. The program has a "mature" rating. Air dates on HBO
Back to School -- In the National Parks by NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPS) -- As the new school year is now underway, the National Park Service (NPS) is bringing innovative education programs to children and adults across America. The NPS is striving to bring the history of our diverse heritage to the forefront - telling the "untold stories." Whether the story is the Underground Railroad, the Spanish and Mexican pioneer movements, or Native American history, the NPS is using a variety of approaches to teach people from coast to coast. NPS educational programs range from the Parks as Classroom7 programs, where students go to parks for hands-on learning experiences, and the NPS web page (www.nps.gov), to the Teaching With Historic Places program. NPS programs reach across age and ethnic lines to give a wide variety of people a chance to learn more about their country. In response to President Clinton's call to help build good citizens through innovative education programs, the NPS is celebrating its commitment to education and the parks' place in America's collective heritage. "In our National Parks, students of all ages can experience the real places where history happened, walk on the battlefields that they have read about in text books, or visit the very laboratory where Thomas Edison worked round the clock to perfect light bulbs and the phonograph," said Stanton. "Students in National Parks can study the effects of pollution on water quality and how that effects wildlife and they can use the Grand Canyon as an immense example of geologic changes." National parks are great places to vacation -- but they are also great places to learn. National parks are becoming integral parts of many schools' curriculums. Millions of kids are finding history, science, and other complex topics increasingly easier to grasp when the lessons are learned through hands-on teaching in a national park. Students visit parks, park rangers visit schools, and teachers far from parks are using educational kits developed by the NPS that highlight the historic and natural resources of the national parks as unique learning tools.
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by Wolf Expert RALPH MAUGHAN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- It's that time of year when yearling and older subordinate members of wolf packs start looking for new opportunities. Right now it looks like two prominent Yellowstone wolves might be dispersing -- leaving their packs and searching for a mate or a new pack. Druid Pack yearling 104M, a big and bold black male with a white patch on his chest, has long been regarded as a potential alpha male. Those who watched the Druids this year were surprised by his prowess as a hunter, especially for a yearling. Last winter, after the illegal shooting deaths of the alpha and beta males in the pack, number 104 was the first wolf in the Druid Pack to step forward to lick at the muzzle of big no. 21M from the Rose Creek Pack. It was no. 104 who began the acceptance ritual of the new leader of the pack. About two weeks ago the Druid Pack suddenly abandoned the Lamar Valley and headed south to Hayden Valley. Next they headed over near the Pelican Valley, home of the reinvigorated Crystal Creek Pack, now 14-strong, but without an alpha male. The big alpha male recently died, probably due to injuries sustained while hunting. When the Druids returned to the Lamar last weekend, no. 104 stayed behind with the Crystal Creek Pack. Will he continue his stay with the Crystal Creek Pack? Might he even become the alpha male? This is possible because every other member of the Crystal Creek pack is the son or daughter of No. 5F and the late no. 6M. Meanwhile to the south of Yellowstone, three-year-old no. 24F, long the beta female of the Soda Butte Pack, may have finally struck out on her own. She has been located at Fox Park right on the southern boundary of Yellowstone while the other seven members of her pack are north of Heart Lake. In the past she has had no opportunities for a mate outside of her own isolated wolf pack, but with the appearance of the five Thorofare yearlings and four Washakie yearlings along the southeastern border of the Park, she may even now have a potential mate. She might even become leader of a new pack, the rest of which are yearlings. Her dispersal to the south, if it persists, could be very important. It could open the doors to wolves in Jackson Hole. Wolves in this great mountain valley and adjacent highlands would begin a new chapter in the story of the Yellowstone Country wolf restoration. It has been a puzzle why wolves have not followed the Jackson Hole elk herd from its summer range in the southern part of Yellowstone and adjacent country onto the National Elk Refuge. Dr. Bob Crabtree speculated at meeting he addressed that perhaps it was fidelity to the den site that kept the Soda Butte Pack from following the elk migration last fall. Instead they spent a second hard winter in the deep snow of Heart Lake, and they came into conflict with nearby Thorofare Pack, eventually killing Thorofare's alpha male. As winter replaces autumn in Yellowstone, we are likely to see many dispersing wolves. There are many yearlings and two-year-olds that are in a position to form new packs. We will soon learn of some of these, but others have no radio collars and they will slip softly into the wilderness. Here are the latest locations of the rest of the Yellowstone wolves: The Rose Creek pack may have descended from their summer territory, high on the Buffalo Plateau. They are now in Slough Creek. The Druids, minus 104, are in the Lamar Valley. The Leopolds are, as almost always, on the Blacktail Deer Plateau. The Crystal Creek Pack is in the Pelican Valley. The Nez Perce Pack is on the west side of the Firehole River in the vicinity of the geyser basins. The Chief Joseph Pack was located on September 23 at Fawn Pass near the top of the Gallatin Range in the NW part of Yellowstone. The Chief Joseph II Pack (number 16F and her pups) were located about two weeks ago in Cottonwood Creek on the north boundary of the Park, not far from the Yellowstone River. Yesterday''s flight did not find her, but they were getting low on fuel and didn't search far. The flight did not look for the Sunlight Basin pair. One Washakie yearling (radio-collared) was located in the Thorofare. The Thorofare yearlings were not located. Only one of the five has a radio collar. Click here to go to Ralph Maughan's Wolf Update website.
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