Credit: Photo by Deby Dixon, Deby’s Wild World Photography

It’s been a year since the beautiful, strong Yellowstone wolf 926f was killed by a Montana hunter less than a mile from the Park border. The hunter’s identity is known to us, but we are not mentioning him by name because to do so would put him in danger and we don’t want to do that. He lives in Silvergate. The hunter is one of that subgroup of hunters who are out to acquire trophies. Trophy hunters kill animals because the animals are large, famous, unusual, rare, or difficult to find.

They kill animals they don’t intend to eat. Usually they mount the animals’ heads and display them on walls.

The hunter who killed Spitfire took her body home, placed his license tag on her, skinned her, and disposed of her carcass after meeting with the local warden from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, as required by Montana law. We believe that he had her pelt tanned so that it would be preserved.

Spitfire was one of five pups born to the Lamar Canyon pack in April 2011. She was one of the daughters of the wolf known as 06 (the year she was born, 2006, Yellowstone wolf 832f) and 755m.

In April 2012, 06 gave birth to three more pups. But in the fall, the first Wyoming wolf hunt in 50 years took place. 06 and her brother 754m were shot and killed when they stepped outside the park. Spitfire and her siblings were just yearlings at the time. A few weeks later, Spitfire’s father 755m left the Lamar Canyon pack to find another mate. He met and bred with 759f from the Mollie’s Pack, then returned to Lamar Canyon with her. Unfortunately, 755m’s daughters did not accept their stepmother. They killed her and her unborn pups. Soon, 755m left again to find another mate.

Spitfire’s older sister 776f led most of the remaining members of the Lamar Canyon pack out of the park and they formed a new pack. They did not return to Lamar Valley. Spitfire and her older sister 820f, known as Middle Gray, stayed behind in the Lamar Valley. After a while they were joined by lone wolf 825m, called Big Gray, who became the alpha male of the Lamar Canyon pack, with Spitfire as the alpha female. Spitfire dominated her older sister. At the end of 2013, the trio of 926f, 820f, and 825m were all that were left of the 13 wolves who had formed the Lamar Canyon pack before the 2012 wolf hunt.

In 2014, 926f and 825m had their first litter of pups. The following year, 2015, another litter was born shortly after Big Gray was killed by the Prospect Pack. Spitfire raised these pups without her mate. Four of the Prospect wolves later joined the Lamars, and a wolf called Twin became Spitfire’s mate. Their five pups were born in 2016. More Lamar wolves died of mange and other causes, and by the end of the year only Spitfire and her daughter Little T were left.

Next, a Beartooth male, 949m, became Spitfire’s mate. But he didn’t survive, probably due to distemper. No Lamar pups survived from the years 2015, 2016, or 2017.

In 2017, Spitfire allowed her daughter Little T to become the alpha, with Little T’s mate Dot. Sometime in 2017, Spitfire’s radio collar fell off. She and Little T both had litters of pups. Without a collared wolf in their pack, the Lamars were free and not tracked. In 2018, a pup called Jet was first seen in May.

Spitfire lived about seven and a half years. This is considered old for a wolf. She survived many difficulties and lost seven mates. Finally in 2018 a pup survived, and then 926f was killed.

Defend Our Parks believes 926f was illegally killed. We have submitted two Freedom Of Information Act requests for documents related to the investigation of her death conducted b Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Each collection of documents we received was incomplete, leaving out key reports. We have contacted attorneys and are deciding what to do next. Thank you for your support.