When wolves in Yellowstone National Park are hungry, they overwhelmingly choose elk, not goose, from the park's wildlife menagerie, according to studies of the predators. And they could care less about the revered status of bald eagles.

According to the 2009 executive summary recounting wolf behavior in the park, staffers detected 365 wolf kills. Of those, 302, or 83 percent, involved elk, while just 19 were bison kills. Just 17 deer were identified in kills, and just one moose, the summary notes.

As for geese, just one Canada goose was cited, and one bald eagle also was consumed by wolves.

"The composition of elk kills was 24 percent calves, 36 percent cows, 29 percent bulls, and 10 percent unknown sex and/or age," the summary notes. "Bison kills included 7 calves, 4 cows, 3 bulls, and 5 unknown sex adults."

During 2009 park biologists also had to kill a wolf near Old Faithful because it had come to associate park visitors with food and was considered a threat to human safety. Additionally, the summary notes that the Canyon pack had denned within one mile of Mammoth Hot Springs and had to be hazed from the developed area. This caused the wolves to re-locate their den.

Throughout 2009, at least 31,000 park visitors spotted wolves, bolstering Yellowstone's reputation as one of the best places to see a wolf in the wild.