Of Yellowstone National Park’s many attractions, the gray wolf is one of the most controversial.

Yellowstone National Park’s wolf reintroduction effort began in 1995, and Montana’s lead wolf recovery official has said the program’s goals have been accomplished.

Wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone in the early 1900s.

“Biologically, wolves are doing great,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wolf Recovery Coordinator Ed Bangs.

Within the park, wolves generally prey on elk, young bison and other animals. During winters, Yellowstone wolf’s diet is about 90 percent elk.

During summers, the lanky carnivores mix young deer into their diets.

The controversy begins just outside park boundaries, where the wolves sometimes kill cattle, sheep and pets. As wolf numbers have grown since reintroduction, debates have raged over how many of the canines should be allowed in the area around Yellowstone.

The wolf has been added to and removed from the endangered species list in recent years, resulting in several lawsuits.

When wolves are not listed as endangered, state agencies are responsible for managing their numbers. Public hunts of the animals serve as one management tool.

The first-ever wolf hunt took place in the fall of 2009.

The hunting area north of Gardiner was the first to fill the kill limit among several counties where the hunt was allowed near Yellowstone Park.

Hunting was prohibited in 2010 because the wolves were put back on the endangered species list.

In mid-April 2011, an act of Congress removed the animal from the list in Montana and Idaho. With wolf management now in the hands of those states, it remains to be seen if hunts are reinstituted.

The original minimum recovery goal for wolves in the northern Rockies was 30 breeding pairs and at least 300 wolves for three consecutive years — a goal that was attained in 2002.

Gray wolves now extend from the southern reaches of Yellowstone National Park upward into Park County, with experts estimating about 450 animals living in the greater Yellowstone Park region.

In Paradise Valley, the part of Park County where most conflicts with livestock occur, an estimated 20 to 30 wolves stalk the hills in three to five packs.

According to management rules, if a wolf is actively chasing, harassing or attacking livestock or pets, it can be shot on sight.

This is in stark contrast to the early days of reintroduction, when obtaining a kill permit involved a lengthy federal process. Killing a wolf in the greater Yellowstone region without a permit was a felony and carried penalties of up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

Wolves have set up dens through Yellowstone’s 2.2 million acres. They also roam on neighboring U.S. Forest Service lands outside of the park as well as on private land.

Wolves, like any animal, are subject to disease. In the summer of 2005, about 40 percent of the northern Yellowstone Park-area wolf population died from a virus originally contracted from dogs.

Although ranchers and stockgrowers might not be happy with the return of the gray wolf, environmentalists and tourism-based businesses are pleased.

Merchants have cashed in on T-shirts, books, videos and other items relating to wolves.

Janelle Holden of Keystone Alliance, a predator conservation group that advocated nonlethal wolf mitigation techniques, said in a 2006 study that having wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem brings $35 million annually to the area.

Motel managers report surges in spring visitors who hope to see wolves in Yellowstone Park.

Wolves often den in the same spot year after year, Bangs said. Some wolves in other areas have been known to use the same rock den for decades, passing it down through generations.

“Probably the number one place in the world to see wolves is in the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park,” Bangs said. “It’s phenomenal.”

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The beautiful Yellowstone landscape is also wild country — one of the last and largest undeveloped regions in the continental United States. Black bears and grizzly bears roam through the countryside they claim as their own.

Both black and grizzly bears are frequently encountered in and around Yellowstone National Park, and both species are unpredictable.

Around 600 grizzlies live in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

Grizzlies are protected by components of the Federal Endangered Species Act, but their long-term protections under that act remain in litigation.

Since it can be difficult to tell grizzly and black bears apart, hikers are best advised to be wary of all bruins.

As a rule, black bears are generally smaller, less aggressive animals, and most have black or dark brown hair. However, some black bears grow to be quite large, and it is not uncommon to see cinnamon-colored black bears that closely resemble a grizzly.

Adult grizzlies are quite large, with lighter-colored hair usually highlighted by silver tips, giving a distinctive sheen.

Grizzlies and black bears can best be distinguished by looking at their muzzles and claws.

In profile, a grizzly’s face has a distinctive brow that gives the bear a dish-shaped muzzle. The black bear has a straight muzzle and the face appears round when viewed from the front.

The grizzly bear has much larger claws than black bears. Grizzly claws are several inches long, and when the bear leaves a footprint, the claw impressions are about 2 to 3 inches in front of the pads.

Also, grizzlies have a hump above their front shoulders, making it the highest point in their body. On black bears, the highest point is the rump.

Research shows there are fewer bear attacks when people travel in groups. Grizzly bear experts and park rangers recommend hiking in groups rather than walking alone.

Hiking during the daylight hours and making noise — such as singing or whistling — when approaching “blind curves” is another way to reduce encounters.

Special care should be taken when camping in bear country. All cooking should be done well away from the sleeping area and all food should be hung at least 10 feet up in trees away from the sleeping area, as should clothes worn while cooking and eating.

Fish entrails should be thrown back into the water, and garbage should be burned in the campfire or hung in a tree well away from the campsite.

Since food and odors attract bears, items such as cooking stoves, utensils, coolers, trash bags, food and toiletries should not be left outside or in tents or tent trailers, unless they are in immediate use.

If you encounter a bear:

• Stay calm. It will probably leave you alone.
• Do not make abrupt moves or noises that would startle the bear.
• Give the bear plenty of room.
• Assume a non-threatening posture and turn sideways.
• Avoid eye contact.
• Slowly back away.
• Keep your pack on to provide protection.

If a bear charges:

• As a last resort, drop to the ground and assume a cannonball position to protect head and stomach while playing dead.
• Don't move until you are certain the bear has left the area.

REMEMBER

Running is likely to provoke an attack. Grizzlies can attain short bursts of speed of up to 40 mph.

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The woolly bison is a symbol for the Old West and its rugged spirit. Now, the bison is also a sign of the struggle for the future of the New West.

Yellowstone Park officials counted around 4,000 bison in 2011, an increase from 2010.

Ranchers, conservation groups, Native American tribes, and state and federal government agencies are tangled in a debate over what to do with bison wandering out of Yellowstone National Park during winter months.

The animals leave the high elevations of the park during harsh winters to search for winter forage.

In April 2011, after a winter of heavy snow, management agencies announced bison would be allowed to roam in the Gardiner Basin, which stretches from the park to Yankee Jim Canyon.

At the heart of the problem is the bacterial disease brucellosis carried by some bison. The disease can cause domestic cattle to abort. In the winter, bison sometimes graze on the same land as cattle.

Although there has never been a documented case of cattle getting brucellosis from wild bison, the possibility of transmission concerns Montana’s ranching industry.

It cost ranchers millions of dollars over several decades to eliminate the disease from cattle and obtain a federal brucellosis-free designation.

In recent years, federal rules have changed regarding brucellosis-free statuses for states.

Producers were once required to slaughter their entire herds if an infection was found, and beef from the entire state would be difficult to sell elsewhere.

As a result, bison were hazed, captured and slaughtered to prevent the disease spreading. Thousands of bison have been captured and sent to slaughter over the years.

Producers now have options to test herds and adopt herd-specific management plans. Wildlife advocates have said the relaxed requirements for producers should result in bison being able to roam outside the park.

But testing requirements are more stringent in Montana counties near the park than elsewhere in the state. Some producers in those counties have said the park needs to keep bison in the park.

Among those who live in the Gardiner area but don’t keep livestock, some applauded the April 2011 decision to allow bison to roam outside the park. Others expressed anger over property damage caused by the animals and potential public safety hazards.

A limited annual hunting season outside the park was begun in 2006.

Selected tribal hunts are allowed on public lands.

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