Today was the first day in the park.  I went on the trip with the class last year, so this is my third time in Yellowstone.  We started our day at 8am this morning and made our way towards Mammoth Hot Springs.  On our way there we encountered a small herd of elk. We also saw a rather large herd of female Bighorn Sheep and their lambs.  The class observed the Bighorns on the mountain side for about a half hour.  The lambs were very entertaining to watch.  They were bucking and chasing each other on the rocky outcrops .  One lamb even took a leap of faith from one large rock to another.  Once we were in Mammoth we were able to see the resident elk herd.  We were even able  to see the bull Elk that they have named Touchdown.

At 9am we met with Travis Wyman for an Elk Management talk.  I was really excited for the talk since I would like to be an Ungulate Biologist after I graduate.  Travis gave an excellent talk about the history of the management practices that have been used in the park. I thought it was really interesting that at one point Yellowstone became more of a game preserve instead of a national park.  During that period of time the park was actually feeding elk, deer and bison to help them survive the winters since numbers had been decimated by hunters and poachers.  The current population of the elk in the northern range of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is sitting at about 4,850 elk.  Travis said that a healthy population for the range should be roughly 6,000 to 9,000.  He also said that the Moose and Pronghorn populations in the park have been on the rise as well.

After the talk in Mammoth Hot Springs we made our way around the park looking for wildlife.  We had lunch near the Lamar River and then took a short hike up to Wolf #9s den site.  On the way to the den, Shauna (our guide) took us to different kill sites and showed us the bones of a huge bull bison and told us the story behind his death.  I am looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures.