The Story of One Wolf: V076

From the Voyageurs Wolf Project and the story of one she-wolf  that we know something about.  However there are many others and the one thing we learn is that it is a hard and often dangerous life without the human interference.

above Wolf V076 last winter. Her age was starting to show. (c)2024 Voyageurs Wolf Project

The breeding female of the Wiyapka Lake Pack was forcibly removed from her own pack last fall and has since wandered around as a lone wolf. What her future entails is unknown.

In late 2018, a pair of wolves ousted the Moose River Pack and took over the Moose River Pack territory. That pack was the Wiyapka Lake Pack.

In Spring 2019, the breeding female of this new pack, Wolf V076, had her first litter of pups. She remained the breeding female until late last year and gave birth to at least 21 pups (and likely more) in 5 different litters (a litter of pups each year since 2019) during her tenure.

Of those pups, 8 survived to adulthood.

But she was getting older and times they were a changing. During late summer of 2023, a new pair of wolves, one of which was a collared female originally from the Bluebird Lake Pack to the south, started trespassing into the Wiyapka Lake territory.

We thought this pair was taking over, or at least trying to take over the territory at that time (and was going to boot the Wiyapka wolves). But as fall turned into winter, it seemed evident that Wiyapka had staved off the invasion and this new pair settled down in a territory just south of the Wiyapka Lake Pack. 

above Wolf V076 and a pup in 2020. (c) 2024Voyageurs Wold Project

However, during that same period, another female wolf trespassed. And somehow, this new female ousted Wolf V076 and joined the pack. 

How that all played out is unknown but we have several videos from late fall and early winter of V076 by herself a good distance outside the pack’s territory, and then several videos of the Wiyapka Pack with the same breeding male and a different leading female.

This new female now leads the pack with V076’s former mate. Although this new female appeared to have usurped V076, she did continue to rear V076’s adolescent pups—2 of which were were alive as of late fall (we need to get through camera footage from winter to see if either or both survived). 

What will come of V076 now is unknown. She is likely 8 or so years old currently. She might yet find another pack to join, or she might remain a lone wolf for the rest of her life. 

However, the fact that she remained the breeding female of a pack for 5 years is better than most breeding animals—heck, most wolves don’t even make it to 5 years old.

Either way, the story of V076 is a good illustration of wolf pack dynamics and how packs can change quickly.