Game camera records alpha male

Leader of Imnaha Pack returns after collar signal went missing for months.

After two and a half months without radio communication, the Imnaha wolf pack’s alpha male is back.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife downloaded an image captured by a game camera in the wee hours of Aug. 11. Agency biologists are fairly certain the photograph is of the Imnaha’s alpha male and female.

Craig Ely, ODFW Northeast regional manager, said two wolves were observed Aug. 11 on an infrared night photo. The wolf in the foreground is wearing what looks like a GPS collar.

“The shape of a GPS collar is very distinctive. It has a different shape than the VHF collars,” Ely said.

The wolf in the background also has a collar. Ely said that judging by the shape of her head, they believe the wolf to be the alpha female. In all, four wolves of the Imnaha pack are collared.

The last signal from the alpha male’s GPS collar was received May 31. As the weeks turned into months with no sighting of the alpha male, Russ Morgan, ODFW wolf coordinator, was becoming concerned for his well-being. So were many others who are closely following the Imnaha pack’s story as it unfolds.

Morgan said in a June 17 interview with The Observer the alpha male is the primary provider for the alpha female

and her pups. At the time of his disappearance, the pups would have been approximately six weeks old.

When it comes to wolves, emotions run high by both those who hate wolves and those who seek to protect them. As summer wore on, it seemed more and more likely that the alpha male was gone for good.

In June, alpha males were found shot in Arizona and New Mexico, underscoring intensity of the debate between the two sides.

Now that the Imnaha alpha male has been spotted, Morgan said he is debating whether to replace his GPS collar or put one on another wolf. The alpha male is thought to be about 5 or 6 years old.

ODFW has employed three seasonal employees this summer to get a handle on the wolf population in Wallowa and Union counties. With the aid of Alison Field, an intern from Oregon State University, Morgan has trapped and collared one adult wolf from the Wenaha pack. Over the weekend, two female pups were found in traps set by the agency.

The discovery of the pups confirms that Oregon has two breeding pairs. Yet, Morgan said, the pups need to survive until the end of the year to qualify their parents as a successful breeding pair, according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation Plan.

Both pups were female, weighed 42 pounds each and were in good health, Ely said.

They were too small to collar, so Morgan and Field tagged their ears and took blood and tissue samples before releasing them.

“Once we get into September, all the wolves will be big enough to collar,” Morgan said. He hopes to get a GPS collar on a member of the Wenaha pack soon.

GPS collars send a signal every six hours to a computer that can be downloaded to map collared wolves’ movements.