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Druids Pack
Druids Pack
The Druids at their peak

Date of Formation

April 1996

Founders

  1. 38, #39, #40, #41 and #42

Alpha Female(s)

  1. 39, #40, #42 (Cinderella) and #480

Alpha Male(s)

  1. 38, #21 and Casanova

Last Alpha Female

  1. 569F

Last Alpha Male

  1. 480M

Known Members

38, 39, 40, 41, 42 (Cinderella), 21, 302 (Casanova), 480, 690F, 569F, 691F, 480M, 690, 571F, 761F, & 691F

Current Pup(s)

None

The Druid Peak wolf pack was released into Yellowstone National Park in 1996 as part of the park's Wolf Restoration Project. The pack's would eventually grow to a maximum of thirty-seven members at its peak in 2001. It is believed to be the biggest wolf pack in history. The first alpha pair were #38 and #39***. A roving young male, #31, joined the group from Chief Joseph Pack. The dominant male, (#38) was shot when the pack had wandered out of the park in 1997, and #40 assumed dominance after her mother (#39) left***. Wolf #21, who came from a rival pack, joined the group as the alpha male after successfully courting #40. Later, #40 was killed by her subordinate sister, #42, who was also referred to as the Cinderella wolf. #42 assumed the position of alpha female and took her sister's mate, #21, as her own. It was at this point that the pack grew rapidly, with three litters of pups being raised that year for a total of twenty-one pups, twenty of which had survived into adulthood. #42 and #21 led the pack as the alpha pair for many years until in 2004, when #42 was killed by a neighboring wolf pack. #21 died soon afterward at the age of 9, after curling up under a tree. #302, also known as "Casanova", then became the alpha male for a period of time. He was given the name Casanova because of his promiscuous lifestyle as a wolf, living on the outskirts of Druid territory and often trying to lure the female Druid wolves over. Then #480 joined the pack as alpha male, making Casanova a beta male.* #569 became the alpha female. In the winter of 2009-2010, the pack contracted mange, causing many of the wolves to die from border skirmishes or starvation. After #480 was chased off, the males who took over the pack did not stick around because the remaining females were too weak to bear pups.*  The alpha female, #569, had died the previous fall, and #480's body was later found near the Hellroaring drainage. The Druids were down to one wolf in 2010, a female, 690F, who was believed to be unable to last the winter. She was later shot in Butte, Montana sometime in May that year by a rancher after she attacked his cattle out of desperation. Many wolves in Yellowstone have Druid bloodline so they still live on as many wolves were chased out or left the pack including four female wolves and a male wolf who left to form a pack with a different alpha male.

* These parts do not match with the timeline or infobox and should be checked.

All Known Members[]

  • 38(Male)
  • 39(Female)
    -39 druid

    #39 Alpha Female

  • 40(Female)
  • 41(Female)
  • 42 (Cinderella-Female)
  • 21(Male)
  • 302 (Cassanova)
  • 480(Female)
    Casanova

    Casanova (302M)

  • 690F
  • 569F (alpha female, the last one)
  • 691F
  • 480M (alpha male, last one)
  • 690 (shot in Butte, Montana and the last collared yearling from the druid pack)
  • 571F
  • 761F (White line - fought with Lamar Canyon alpha female and later found dead in same area)
  • 691F (died from a fight with the Silver pack)

History[]

April 1996: Five wolves #38 and #39, the alpha male and female, and female pups #40, #41, and #42 formed the Druids.

1996: During that first year in Yellowstone, a yearling male, #31, dispersed from the nearby Chief Joseph Pack and joined the group. Then the original alpha female #39 left the pack and her daughter, #40, took her place as the lead female.

1997: The subordinate females #41 and #42 gave birth to two litters, yet #40 did not have her own litter. Lone wolf #39 reunited with the pack briefly.

November 1997: #39 left the pack for good with her daughter, #41, who have been driven out by #40.

December 1997: The pack’s two males, #31 and #38 were shot and killed. Roving male #21 joined from Rose Creek Pack and became the alpha male.

1998: #42 (nickname Cinderella) gave birth to a litter. #40 attacked Cinderella in her den. None of her pups survived.

2000: Cinderella attacked and killed #40.Cinderella became the Alpha female. The females now started to have litters. Three were born this year, 21 pups in total. Out of all three litters, only 1 of pup died. The Druids had 27 members at the end of the year.

2001: 10 pups were born to the adult females, boosting the Druid pack's numbers up to 37 members. They became the largest wolf pack ever recorded.

2002: The Druids splinter into small groups. Three new pack were from; Agate Creek, Geode Creek, and Slough Creek packs, were created, each anchored by a former Druid female born at the same den in Lamar Valley in 1997. The Druids were left with 11 members by 2002’s end, including the matriarch, Cinderella, and the long-time alpha male, #21.

2003: #302 joined the Druids from Leopold Pack. He fathered all of the pups but Cinderella's. The pack now had 17 members. #302 was nicknamed Casanova.

2004: Cinderella died in a group encouter with a rival pack, and #21 was found dead in the summer.

2005: Neighboring Slough Creek began to spend more time on the northwestern boundary of Druid territory. Slough Creek Pack and Druid Pack had many encounters, and two females died. Druids left the Lamar Valley. No pups survived this year. Their numbers were down to 4 members at the end of the year.

2006: #480 and Casanova are the alpha pair. The two remaining females gave birth to eight pups together. Druids reclaimed their former territory from the Slough Creek Pack. The Druids moved into the Sada Butte and Lamar Valley.

2007: 6 pups were born that year.

2008: More people started to film a large documentary of the druids that will come out soon

More Information/Contradicting Sources[]

*** There is conflicting information about female wolves #39 and #40. In BBC's Wolf Pack documentary, they do not mention #39, and actually claims that #40 was the mate of the original alpha male. Doug Smith, who is a park biologist and the leader of the Wolf Restoration project in Yellowstone National Park, stated in the documentary that "the first alpha female was wolf #40. She was very aggressive, and she ruled with an iron fist" (source: BBC's Wolf Pack documentary). However, according to the 1995-1996 Yellowstone Wolf Project Report (page 15), #39 was alpha female when the group was released. The report says that in August, #39 went on lengthy excursions to the north of the pack's territory. She eventually left for good, and the one of the yearling females, #40, became alpha female and possibly took #38 as her mate. #38 was later shot outside of the pack, and then (some time after) #21, a male from the rival Rose Creek pack, joined the Druid Peak pack and took the place of alpha male.

Note: This page needs sources for a lot of the information already present!! The some of original information in the timeline may have come from In The Valley of the Wolves.

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