09/13/2024
September 12, 2024
5 years ago, today (seems like yesterday) on September 12, 2019, a Yellowstone alpha female gray wolf known as 1118F perished in Yellowstone National Park.
The last eleven months of her life were like a Disney movie in the making…
The Inspiring True Story of a Courageous Yellowstone Wolf known as 1118F
1118F was not a famous or well-known wolf like some other Yellowstone wolves before her but she more than deserves her story to be told for her intelligence, courage, tenacity, and her will to survive with a painful injury. She was defenseless and alone in the Yellowstone wilderness for eleven months.
A Star is Born: In April 2014, Mollie’s pack alpha female 779F and alpha male 980M gave birth to six pups, one of which was 1118F. The next year, her father sustained a fatal wound during an elk hunt. The Mollie's were without an alpha male until Junction Butte wolf 890M courted 1118F's mother and won over the other pack members in late 2016. 890M became the pack’s new alpha male.
1118F was radio collared in January 2018. She became the alpha female of the Cub Creek Group after mating with an unknown black alpha in February 2018. An adult subordinate female was also a member of the new group. 1118F gave birth to two pups in April 2018. The five wolves (three adults and two pups) became known informally as the Cub Creek Group.
Then sadly, in late March 2018, 1118F’s mother 779F was found dead in Lamar Valley, possibly killed by a fatal blow from an elk kick while hunting in the valley. An autopsy revealed that 779F was pregnant at the time of her death. 1118F's sister, 978F, then paired with 890M and became new alpha female of the Mollie's pack.
Tragedy Strikes: In late October 2018, the Cub Creek Group came under gun fire while traveling along the eastern edges of Yellowstone in Wyoming (just outside the park) during the state's legal wolf hunting season. While the wolves fed on a carcass, hunters fired upon them. The subordinate female died on the scene, and the remaining group members dispersed in all directions back into Yellowstone Park. 1118F sustained a bullet wound in her upper right front leg, a potentially life-ending injury to a wolf. As a result, 1118F became separated from her pack family. She would never reconnect with them. 1118F was now a wounded, lone wolf in the Yellowstone wild.
After several weeks of lying low and barely hanging on, 1118F limped into Lamar Valley on December 24, 2018, searching for any kind of food she could find. She is feeding on winter-kill carcasses and the remnants of other carcasses.
She Preservers: 1118F surprised all of us with her steadfast grit and survival skills, moving around while wounded, from her natal Mollie's Pack Pelican Valley territory to the Northern Range / Lamar Valley. For most of 2019, she stayed around Lamar Valley and Little America, slipping past numerous wolf packs to avoid conflict, and traveling hundreds of miles over eleven months on only three legs!
She’s Gone: On September 12, 2019, her radio collar gave off a mortality signal (which happens when the wolf hasn't moved for four hours). 1118F’s extraordinary life was over. We will never know 1118F’s cause of death, but she rests in peace within the boundary of eastern Yellowstone National Park near the Lamar River.
My Personal Experience with 1118F:
I was in Lamar Valley on December 24, 2018. I came across a “jam “. I stopped to inquire what was going on and approached the crowd with spotting scopes. The watchers informed me there were wolves on a carcass and one watcher remarked, “One of the wolves is limping badly.” They were told that an elk had kicked the wolf. I looked through the spotting scope and her upper right front leg had a well-defined wound NOT consistent with an elk kick. I later spoke with someone from the Wolf Project and they told me, “Oh, That’s 1118F. She was shot in the right front leg in Wyoming outside the park.”
After that day, I continued to see 1118F far out and heard reports of “the limping wolf” at carcasses in January. 1118F intrigued me so I did some research and learned about her natal pack, and the new group she formed in eastern Yellowstone. Watching her in a spotting scope, her right front leg was clearly nonfunctional. It dawned on me that this beautiful creature was all alone in the Yellowstone wilderness, with only three functional legs, traveling miles a day going from carcass to carcass, just to survive. “Wow, she is one extraordinary wolf,” I thought to myself.
In mid-February 2019, a vehicle hit a bison in the road near Lower Hell Roaring. I was told the bison staggered and collapsed by the road and died. The rangers and others moved the bison to around 100 yards away from the road, allowing the park’s predators to feed on the carcass. I visited the carcass on February 18, 2019. There were only coyotes on the carcass when I was there.
I returned to the bison carcass on February 21, 2019. There was a large crowd of photographers. I asked, “What’s going on?” and a photographer replied, “We have had coyotes, a fox and look over there, there is a wolf lying down!” I looked and sure enough there was a wolf. That wolf was 1118F.
I set up my tripod, camera and long lens. Over a few hours, I photographed 1118F resting and the coyotes feeding on the carcass. After a few hours, 1118F rose up from her bedded spot and limped with determination past the coyote occupied carcass, heading west. Then suddenly, she stopped, turned and looked at me, as if to say, “Please remember me.” I took this photo of her (see image 3 posted). She limped out of sight. I never saw or photographed 1118F again.
I “fell in love” with this exceptional gray wolf. 1118F’s courage, determination, and will to survive in the Yellowstone wilderness was something I never imagined I would witness firsthand. 1118F really impressed me. March through August 2019, every time I was in Yellowstone, I would try and ask a member of the Wolf Project about 1118F. The reply was something along the lines of “she is still going.” I thought, “Wow, that’s really amazing.” I never expected her to survive the winter, but she did.
Always on My Mind: I was in my Denver hotel room on an autumn business trip. Something told me to message a friend who works for the Wolf Project. I asked, “How’s 1118F? Their reply was swift and short. “She has passed away.” My heart dropped. My eyes teared. I said aloud, “Oh, No!” I knew the end would come sooner rather than later but I was rooting for her to hang in there as long as possible. I was happy to hear that her final resting place was in Yellowstone National Park, her home. She defied and denied the shooter’s ego, bragging rights and “trophy”.
It is my understanding she died in the area where she last saw her family. IMHO, she knew she was dying (likely of starvation) and made her last effort to see her family again. I want to think she did see them as she took her last breath. Like many humans, she “went home to die”. 1118F was one stunningly beautiful and intelligent wolf.
1118F was the winner in my eyes in the end.
In Retrospect: 1118F survived eleven months, despite losing her family and pups, alone, on three functional legs in the Yellowstone wild. How is that even possible? Think about the pain she was in. She was defenseless. She could not run from threats, so she cunningly avoided them. It is beyond belief. According to reliable sources, 1118F’s two pups have never been seen since, “they just disappeared”.
1118F chose to live the last eleven months of her life in full view of all of us, telling her story on her own terms for us to document and tell others for years to come. 1118’s kaleidoscopic life was over but like stars across the sky, she was born to shine… and she did!
She Will Always Shine in my Heart: I have a 20 x 30 print of this photo on my home office gallery wall. I look at her portrait often on my wall and wonder, “How did she do it”?
I feel very lucky to have had a chance to meet 1118F “up close and personal,” albeit just that one day in February 2019. Every time I drive by the location where I last saw and photographed 1118F, I remember her with a misty smile… R.I.P. beautiful lady. We will never forget you.
For more information about 1118F, two YNP wolf watchers created a website to pay homage to this beautiful alpha female, known as 1118F: https://www.wolf1118f.com/
Best,
Mark
