During the 2012/2013 wolf hunting season, six of the wolves that lived in Yellowstone National Park during most of the year, but were harvested in the surrounding states, were fitted with radio collars. These collars were used to track wolf movements, obtain counts, study wolf-prey relationships and ecosystem effects, and monitor mortality and reproduction. Thus, this information was important to both the park and the surrounding states for ecological studies, conservation, and management-including when wolves moved into areas of adjacent states with livestock operations. Routine replacements of collars are part of any wildlife monitoring program that uses radio collars. Collared wolves are lost for many reasons (e.g., dispersal, wolves killing wolves, attacks on prey, vehicle strikes, malnourishment, and human harvest). As part of ongoing research and management, biologists plan to replace collars as specific objectives dictate.

Wolves in Yellowstone have become a great source of enjoyment to millions of people around the world. Many of the radio-collared wolves are well-known because they are individually identifiable and quite visible to wildlife watchers during portions of the year. However, the park's primary objective is to maintain a naturally functioning wolf population by minimizing human intervention within the park. This objective can be achieved with a modest harvest of individual wolves outside the Yellowstone boundary. Wolves in Yellowstone are part of a larger population that includes much of the northern Rockies, which may safeguard the likelihood that there will be wolves in Yellowstone for people to enjoy into the foreseeable future.