Today started out with a grizzly bear. We wanted to chase wolves, but the junction pack is outside of the park for the third day, so we headed south to try to find the Wapiti pack. On our way there we came across a black bear. We also learned that if a human is attacked by a bear, the bear will not be put down if it was exhibiting natural behavior, such as a mother protecting her cubs. The exception is if a bear has attacked and eaten or tasted human flesh, it will be put down.

As we arrived to Fountain flats we learned 5 minutes earlier there was a sighting of 5-7 wolves that went into the trees. After driving around and then coming back to Fountain Flats, we saw 2 gray wolves running in the grass. We followed them a little ways and watched them cross over the river. They then headed into the trees as well.

To get a better vantage point, we hiked up to the top of a nearby hill and waited. From there we could see a lot of the landscape, thermals, and a herd of bison. Through the scopes we watched the herd of buffalo start to run towards the thermals and a couple few minutes later we heard some quiet howls. Shortly after some gray wolves and then black wolves emerge. They were heading the opposite direction of the bison. We sat and watched the wolves for a while until they ran out of view. We saw the alpha male, a big black wolf and the white beta female. The 11 year old white alpha female has not been seen in 3 months, so she may be dead. Her daughter, the white beta, may be the new alpha female.

Sadly, today was the last day with the wolf trackers. We ended on a good day and were very fortunate to have Taylor and Quin as guides the past 3 days. They were very knowledgeable and interesting people. They both work with the Wolf Research Program in the park when they are not guiding. They offered a lot of advice to those of us interested in wildlife research field, such as networking and making connections.