Wild footage from Yellowstone National Park of an encounter between a Grizzly Bear and a wolf pack. The footage was captured by Tied to Nature tour operator Adam Brubaker, who was leading a group of visitors through a section of the park called Hayden Valley last Friday.
Brubaker said it was a “once in a lifetime” sighting on his Tied to Nature Facebook page. “I had the awesome opportunity to share this once-in-a-lifetime wolf and grizzly sighting while on tour in Yellowstone today,” he wrote.
“I had the awesome opportunity to share this once-in-a-lifetime wolf and grizzly sighting while on tour in Yellowstone today. This grizzly was foraging in the far end of the valley when the wolves started to cross his path. The grizzly started standing up on his hind legs to get a better view of what was going on and then started to approach the wolves. Soon the rest of the wolf pack appears and escorts the bear into the trees.”
Background on Wolves and Grizzlies in Yellowstone
Since the original publication of this article in 2020, our understanding of wolf and grizzly interactions in Yellowstone has deepened through ongoing research. Wolves were eradicated from the park by the 1920s due to predator-control programs, which led to ecological imbalances such as exploding elk populations and damaged vegetation. In 1995, gray wolves were reintroduced from Canada, starting with 14 wolves that first winter, followed by more the next year. This reintroduction triggered a trophic cascade, restoring vegetation, supporting species like beavers, fish, otters, and birds, and stabilizing riverbanks.
Today, as of 2025, Yellowstone is home to about 100 wolves across roughly ten packs, including well-known ones like the Junction Butte Pack and the Wapiti Lake Pack (involved in the original sighting). The park conducts annual population counts in mid-November to mid-December and March to monitor numbers, using tools like radio collars, GPS data, and genetic analysis. Grizzly bears, another iconic species, often compete with wolves over carcasses, with over half of some grizzlies’ meat intake coming from wolf kills in certain areas. These interactions highlight a complex rivalry, where bears may steal kills, but wolves defend their territory aggressively
Wolves remain protected within the park but face challenges outside, where they are subject to state-managed hunting quotas in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Since their delisting from the Endangered Species List in 2020, debates continue over balancing conservation with livestock protection. Park management emphasizes keeping wolves wild, with rules like maintaining a 100-yard distance and closing areas near dens to prevent human interference.