Junction Butte pups (not the pups recently killed) photographed by wolf program park staff using a telephoto lens. NPS / Jeremy SunderRaj 2019

Three wolves that ranged north out of Yellowstone National Park were killed during the first week of Montana's wolf hunting season, according to park staff.

The slain wolves were members of the Junction Butte Pack that ranges across Yellowstone's northern range and "is the most viewed wolf pack in the world," a park release said Monday.

Multiple recent overflights conducted by the park confirmed the pack size has been reduced from 27 to 24 animals, losing two female pups and one female yearling, the release added, also noting that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks confirms three wolves were killed outside of Yellowstone in the general vicinity of where the Junction Butte Pack was traveling in mid-September.

Yellowstone wolves in the northern range spend an estimated 5 percent of the time outside the park, usually in late fall, according to park wildlife biologists. For more than a decade, the state of Montana limited the number of wolves taken from Montana wolf management units 313 (Gardiner) and 316 (Cooke City), which are immediately adjacent to the park’s northern boundary.

Ninety-eight percent of wolves in Montana are outside units 313 and 316. Recent state changes to hunting and trapping have lifted restrictions within these units, making Yellowstone’s wolf population in the northern range extremely vulnerable, the park noted. Montana has also authorized baiting from private property. Over 33 percent of the boundary Yellowstone shares with Montana is within one mile of private property where baiting is now permissible.

“Yellowstone plays a vital role in Montana’s wildlife conservation efforts and its economy. These wolves are part of our balanced ecosystem here and represent one of the special parts of the park that draw visitors from around the globe,” said Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly. “We will continue to work with the state of Montana to make the case for reinstating quotas that would protect the core wolf population in Yellowstone as well as Montana’s direct economic interests derived from the hundreds of millions spent by park visitors each year.”

Visitor spending within communities that are 50 miles from Yellowstone exceeds $500 million per year, tens of millions of which is spent by visitors coming to watch wolves and supporting Montana businesses in gateway communities.

The Junction Butte Pack formed in 2012. They are the most observed pack in Yellowstone because they den within view of the Northeast Entrance Road and the road to Slough Creek Campground, providing thousands of visitor’s daily views. The pack had eight pups in 2021.