![]() The Riley Creek pack was up to 14 animals. Riley the wolf and several of her many pups in spring 2015. ![]() The next summer, she used a different den, from which eight more of her pups survived. When she was 6, Riley gave birth to five pups in the same burrow in which she was born. Rather than living life as a passive member of her mother’s East Fork pack, Riley took the most extreme risk a wolf can - she split from the pack.ĭefying the odds for lone wolves, which are at great risk of being killed by other wolves, Riley found a mate and then chose a den site close to the park road.Īs Riley’s mother’s pack had shifted a bit north, Denali Park biologists declared hers its own group: the Riley Creek pack. The biologist who fired the dart wrote this note: “Aggressive to helicopter.” They knew Riley’s history, and personality, a lot better starting in March 2012, when park biologists darted her and fitted her with a satellite collar. They knew her mother, a dominant creature that led the East Fork pack for 10 years and had given birth to dozens of pups. The biologists knew a lot about the wolf, such as the location of the spruce tree Riley was born beneath in May 2009. The next day, I drove to the headquarters of Denali National Park and met wildlife technician Kaija Klauder and wolf biologist Bridget Borg. Then, she disappeared into roadside brush. The female wolf with the leather satellite-tracking collar surprised me by not running away or otherwise seeming to notice my car, idling 30 feet away. I wrote about Riley in February 2019, when I noticed her bobbing through the snow on the side of the Parks Highway not far from Healy and Denali National Park. Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife health veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen performed a necropsy. The female wolf, former leader of the once-mighty Riley Creek pack in Denali National Park and Preserve, drowned in an open lead of the Nenana River on March 9.Īrea residents pulled her body from the river and informed biologists at Denali National Park. She lived in the wild until almost the age of 11, which biologists call a remarkable feat. “We look forward to increasing both our lethality and survivability in this threat environment as upgrades come online for our fighters.Riley the wolf on the Denali Park Road with one of her packmates in 2017. “The value of stand-off weapons employment and integration between fourth and fifth generation aircraft were the largest takeaways for our unit,” Felker said. Branden Felker, 80th Fighter Squadron commander.ĭuring routine training missions, pilots would fly with as many as 80 aircraft as they simulated battles with and against fourth and fifth-generation aircraft to accomplish their objectives. “This type of large force exercise training is invaluable to our squadron, especially to our young Wingmen who have never flown in such a dense mission environment,” said Lt. Marine Corps service members as they executed more than 150 training missions in the Joint-Pacific Alaska Range Complex. Andrew Dotson, 35th FGS Red Flag maintenance project officer.ĭuring this event, the Wolf Pack had a unique opportunity to work with the Royal Australian Air Force, U.S. ![]() “Red Flag really challenged our maintenance personnel to be innovative and use limited resources while collaborating together with other units to achieve a common goal,” said Master Sgt. ![]() More than 120 personnel with the 80th Fighter Squadron and 35th Fighter Generation Squadron spent a month planning, executing and learning from the large force exercise as they worked in a simulated contingent environment. Wolf Pack members completed more than 250 training hours during RED FLAG-ALASKA 22-3, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Aug. ![]()
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