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She was collared as 832F for the wolf watching research project, but she will be forever known to wolf watchers as 06. She was the most famous wolf in the world for a long time. She raised 3 litters of pups, and was alpha of the Lamar Pack.
She was known for her strong, confident personality. She was the clear leader of the group, outranking everyone including her mate, 754M.
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She was killed by an unidentified hunter, legally, in Wyoming, just a few weeks after her beta male in the Lamars, 754M, was shot nearby.
This is an extract from 'The Wolf' by Nate Blakeslee. Turnball is not the hunter's real name, because he has wished to stay anonymous. The grey is 06, and the black is her mate, 754M.
'There had been no way of knowing the size of the pack Turnball was stalking. Now there seemed to be no end to them. They arranged themselves in a loose semicircle around the black, all silently focused on the body of the grey, the snow beneath her torso now a bright red... the black howled a third time, and suddenly they all joined in. Turnball stood, agape, disarmed by the otherworldly sound, by the sheer overwhelming sadness of the cry. She was their leader, he thought. She wasn't just the black's mate; she was the one they couldn't do without, and that's why they wouldn't leave.'
There's evidence that some hunters deliberately target collared wolves as a protest against Yellowstone. Whether that was the reason 06 was shot is unknown.
Wolf hunting was legalized in Wyoming in 2017, and 44 wolves were killed in the first season alone.
Many of them were Yellowstone Wolves wearing research collars.
There's also suggestions that hunters use cheap devices to locate the radio wave signal the collars send out. The actual frequencies are kept a secret by wolf watchers, but can still be worked out by working through them.
Recently, one of 06's daughters, 926F, who had a similar fearless personality, was shot (legally!) in the Cooke City area. To help save more wolves from getting shot in the area, see the link at the top of the comments below.
