Wapiti Wolf Pack at Forest Edge, Yellowstone National Park - stock photo

Members of the Wapiti Lake pack (Canis lupus) stand alert at the edge of a snow-draped forest in Yellowstone National Park, a quiet yet formidable presence in the winter landscape. Known for its visibility near the park’s interior roads, the Wapiti pack is one of the most well-documented wolf groups in Yellowstone, often drawing the attention of researchers and wildlife enthusiasts alike. Winter is a time of high activity for wolves, when deep snow levels level the playing field between predator and prey. The forest edge offers both cover and visibility as wolves strategize their hunts for elk, bison, and other ungulates. The continued survival of Yellowstone’s wolves within park boundaries is a conservation triumph, though the removal of federal protections outside the park remains a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over wolf management in the American West.