Wolf O-Six
This portrait is from my “American Martyrs” series and features a wolf known as “O-Six.”
O-Six was a female wolf in Yellowstone National Park, gaining her nickname “O-Six” because she was born in 2006. She was a large female with beautiful gray and white markings.
She was an intelligent wolf; successful at navigating the delicate social structure of wolf society. After wolves reach sexual maturity and leave their family pack, it is difficult to survive on their own and avoid conflict from other packs while trying to find a mate and territory of their own. But O-Six did this quite well before finally finding two male wolves (young brothers) to form a new pack with in 2010.
After mating with one of the brothers (known as 755), O-Six became the alpha female of her newly formed pack. With her natural abilities, the pack flourished and became known as the Lamar Canyon pack.
O-Six was also an exceptional hunter. She could take down an elk entirely on her own, which is quite a feat considering that elk can outweigh wolves by upwards of 500 pounds. O-Six possessed the skill and confidence necessary to survive in a harsh environment that very quickly weeds out the weak.
The pack held their territory and successfully raised three litters of pups from 2010 to 2012. For all her natural abilities, O-Six became a favorite wolf to watch among wolf researchers and regular visitors in Yellowstone National Park. Her pack’s range overlapped with areas of high visibility, so she was watched and photographed often.
However, the pack’s territory also exceeded Yellowstone’s boundary and the wolves occasionally crossed the park’s eastern edge into Wyoming. Until the summer of 2012, wolves were protected in Wyoming under the Endangered Species Act. But they were officially removed on August 31st of 2012, and the first wolf hunting season in Wyoming began on September 10th.
On December 6th, 2012, O-Six was legally shot near Crandall, Wyoming. According to the hunter (who gave an interview under the protection of anonymity,) as he approached the dead O-Six to collect her body, 755 returned and sat close to his mate, watching the hunter. He howled, and the rest of the pack came from the woods – 10 of their grown pups. The wolves all howled in unison, and the hunter decided to leave the body until the pack had dispersed. He returned an hour later to collect his trophy, after the broken family had left their dead matriarch in the snow.