'Kelly' is first reintroduced wolf to die of natural causes

Members of the Nez Perce tribe discovered the remains of the wolf southeast of Missoula, Montana.

"There wasn't much left of it," said Joe Fontaine of Fish and Wildlife in Helena, Montana. An autopsy revealed a puncture wound, made by a mountain lion, through the skull. "There were no traces of lead in the carcass. It was pretty clear-cut," he said.

The 6-year-old gray female, nicknamed "Kelly," was in the first group of wolves transplanted from Canada to sites in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park in January 1995 as part of the government's effort to return the endangered species to the northern Rockies. A second reintroduction took place early this year.

The lone wolf had migrated from the release site in Idaho to Montana, where she probably died because she wasn't with a pack, said Susanne Laverty of the Wolf Education and Research Center. Mountain lions are larger and move faster, "but they won't mess with a pack of wolves," said Laverty.

"It's actually more common for wolves to kill mountain lions," Fontaine said.

So far, three reintroduced wolves have been shot illegally, one was killed when hit by a delivery truck in Yellowstone, and one was shot legally by federal officials after it killed several sheep on a Montana ranch.

This week the Fish and Wildlife Service announced an increase in the reward--now totaling $2,000--for information about a reintroduced wolf that was shot to death. It was found in early February near Daniel, Wyoming.

This story written by Sarah McCormic for Outside Online