There is good news for one of Yellowstone National Park’s most iconic wolf families: Mollie’s Pack survived Wyoming’s recent wolf hunting season without any of its members being killed. But their survival came down to circumstances that could change in the future, and wolves across Wyoming continue to face significant threats.

Mollie’s Pack spent much of the past year outside the safety of Yellowstone National Park, where they denned and raised their pups on the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming’s Wolf Hunt Area 1. Because wolves are protected from hunting inside Yellowstone, the pack’s movements beyond the park’s boundaries put them at risk. As we shared in our previous alert, Mollie’s Pack was facing the possibility of being killed when Wyoming’s wolf hunting season opened on September 15, 2026. The concern was particularly serious for 1090F, the pack’s approximately 12-year-old matriarch and one of Yellowstone’s oldest living wolves.

Thankfully, Mollie’s Pack returned to Yellowstone shortly before the hunting season began, and Wyoming Game and Fish confirmed that none of the wolves killed in Hunting Areas 1 and 2 were members of the pack. Those areas closed after hunters killed four wolves and reached the mortality limit. But while Mollie’s Pack made it back to safety, other wolf families were not so fortunate. Across Wyoming’s trophy-game area, 10 wolves were killed by hunters during the first week of the season. Behind every one of those deaths was a wild wolf who belonged to a family, shared bonds with other pack members, and played an important role in their close-knit social group. 

For now, we can celebrate that Mollie’s Pack remains together. But their story is a reminder of how vulnerable wolves can be when they move beyond protected areas. In Defense of Animals will continue advocating for protections for Mollie’s Pack and for wolves and other wild animals who face killing simply because they cross an invisible line. 

You can help us continue this work by making a donation today. Together, we can stand up for wild families like Mollie’s pack wolves, and work toward a future where they can live without the threat of being hunted.