Data were gathered for six ungulate species that reside in or near Yellowstone National Park. If gray wolves (Canis lupus) are reintroduced into the Yellowstone area, their avoidance of human activities or their management by human may determine their range. Therefore, the area of wolf occupation cannot be predicted now. We restricted our analysis to Yellowstone National Park and to the adjacent national forest wilderness areas. We included mostly ungulate herds that summer inside or adjacent to the park and that would probably be affected by wolves. Our wolf study area includes Yellowstone National Park and adjacent wilderness areas most likely to be occupied by wolves. We reviewed publications, park records, survey reports, and state fish and game surveys and reports for statistics on ungulate populations. These data [provide an overview of ungulate populations and harvests. Each ungulate herd is described in detail. We restricted our analysis to 1980-89, because population surveys were more complete during that period and because population estimates of most ungulate populations had increased by the 1980's. We feel the higher estimates of the 1980's reflect more up-to-date techniques and are most representative of the situation into which the wolves would be reintroduced.
