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Class Release:

2 to 5 days in length

Wolves of the Yellowstone Ecosystem:
Lore, Restoration, Science, and Management

Wolves of North America emphasizes the role of a top carnivore in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The course will examine wolves both in the real world and the mythological world. Mythological background includes the perceptions of the bear in Native American and world cultures. Biological background includes the paleontology of carnivores, origin wolves and relatives, evolution, taxonomy, biology, and ecology of canids with emphasis on the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and relatives the red wolf (Canis rufus) and the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Managements aspects are linked with the role of scientific research. Content knowledge is provided through classroom and lectures and laboratories. In Yellowstone, an optional field trip provides the opportunity to visit the "wolf" ecosystem and perhaps to observe wolves in the wild. Here is your chance to delve into some of these lesser-known aspects of the wolf.  Co-taught with Jim Garry.

Class Release:

2 to 4 days in length

Bears of North America

Bears of North America emphasizes the role of a top carnivore in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The course will examine bears both in the real world and the mythological world. Mythological background includes the perceptions of the bear in Native American and Western cultures. Biological background includes the origin, evolution, taxonomy, biology, and ecology of ursids with emphasis on grizzly (Ursus arctos) and black (Ursus americanus). Managements aspects are linked with the role of scientific research. Content knowledge is provided through classroom and in Yellowstone, field lectures, supplemented by field laboratories.  Co-taught with Jim Garry.

Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild reveals how wild wolves are changing Yellowstone's ecology and provides new discoveries

New discoveries about wolves, plus exciting eyewitness observations and incredible photographs, are brought together in an extraordinary book about the wolves of Yellowstone National Park. Written by noted naturalist Dr. James C. Halfpenny of Gardiner, Montana, "Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild" (Riverbend) vividly portrays the park's "new" wolves and the ways they are changing the park's very nature.

Yellowstone's wolves have become the most easily seen wild wolves in the world, a phenomenon no one predicted when wolves were reintroduced into the park in 1995 and 1996. This visibility has thrilled thousands of park visitors and enabled scientists to make astonishing discoveries about wolf behavior.

"Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild" presents new information about wolf social behavior, pack structures, territories, and hunting behavior. Some of the most fascinating stories involve interactions with other wildlife. There is a wonderful examination of the symbiotic relationship with ravens and a cutting-edge discussion of "trophic cascade," an ecological theory that predicts how the presence of wolves will affect the entire ecosystem. There are even tips about where and how to see wolves in the park.

Wolf lovers will be pleased to know the book does not use any photographs of captive or game-farm animals. All photos are of wild, free, Yellowstone wolves—another testament to the wolves' high visibility. There are beautiful portraits of wolves howling and running through the snow; rarely seen behavior such as wolves hunting elk and bison, chasing coyotes, and tending pups at a den; and several dramatic photos of events never before captured on film. One photo shows a wolf pack standing in a circle around the body of a wolf they had just killed in a territorial battle. Another shows a wolf trying to kill a grizzly bear cub while the mother bear literally stands guard over it.

Dr. Halfpenny, a scientist and author who teaches wolf classes for the park's interpretive association, based the book on interviews with dozens of scientists, park officials, and "wolf watchers," the hundreds of dedicated wolf lovers who spend days, weeks, and even months in the park simply looking for wolves.

Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader Douglas C. Smith wrote the book's foreword and points out how unusual it is to see wolves "virtually every day."

"In June 2002, the 100,000 Yellowstone visitor laid her eyes on a wolf—a phenomenal statistic," Smith writes. "I worked on wolves for 13 years in Isle Royale National Park, hiking 500 miles each summer, and if I saw one wolf it was an accomplishment."

Yellowstone Bears in the Wild reveals the secrets of Yellowstone's bears

Grizzly bears love to play, sleep, and eat small bugs, according to a new book about the bears of Yellowstone National Park.

Based on the park's latest scientific research, "Yellowstone Bears in the Wild" by Dr. Jim Halfpenny provides an intriguing portrait of Yellowstone's grizzly and black bears. From hibernation to hyperphagia, the book describes everything about the bears: how they live and what they eat, where they go and what they do, how they raise their cubs and how they interact with wolves and other animals, including people.

Like he did in his highly acclaimed "Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild," Halfpenny brings the science to life with remarkable personal stories by bear biologists and bear watchers. In one story about curiosity and play, Kerry Gunther, the park's bear management biologist and author of the book's foreword, tells how a grizzly bear came out of the forest to play with a beach ball it had spotted in Gunther's back yard. Gunther also provides a startling series of photographs of an adult grizzly bear climbing a tree, proving false the old adage that grizzlies can't climb trees.

Most of the photographs are by Michael H. Francis, a professional wildlife photographer. Some of his images are quite unusual, such as a series showing a grizzly bear lying on its back and juggling a large bone with its upraised feet, and a black bear digging into a tree trunk so rapidly that wood chips fly as if from a chain saw. In a testament to the greater visibility of bears in Yellowstone today, all of the photos show wild bears in the park; there are no photos of captive bears.

In recent years thousands of Yellowstone visitors came to know female grizzly bear number 264. The book has a chapter on her life and she is featured in several photos. In a clever innovation that makes the book a memorable keepsake, 264's actual footprints are imprinted on the book's front and back covers.

The book provides fascinating new information on many subjects, including bear sizes, predation, scavenging, hibernation, and eating ants, moths, worms, and other unusual foods. It explains "bear art," a bear's "personal space," and bear "thinking." The book also examines how bears are reacting to critical ecological changes taking place in Yellowstone, such as the precipitous decline of cutthroat trout and whitebark pine trees.

From claws and cubs to foods and fur, "Yellowstone Bears in the Wild" vividly presents the lives of grizzly and black bears in the world's first national park. Anyone interested in bears or in Yellowstone will enjoy this remarkably entertaining and educational book.

Press Release:

Cougar Ecology and Verification

2-day workshop

Cougar, Mountain Lion, Puma, Painter, Panther, Catamount: all the same

Secretive, elusive, the creature of myths and rumors, and capable of killing people, cougars stir our imagination, curiosity, and fear. Improve your knowledge about cougars, their presence, dangers, and management. Jim will also cover cougar ecology and how cougars interact at the human interface. If you are interested or face any of situations below, then this is the workshop for you.

Population biology, Behavior and Ecology
Cougar / Human Interactions
Cougar Pet Trade
Locating tracks and signs on the trail
Identifying footprints and Verifying presence
Collecting quality evidence
Determining sex and size of animals
Gaits and reading stories

This workshop will provide the knowledge and skills needed to accurately identify and document signs of cougars, dogs, lynx, wolves, and other rare carnivores.

You won't leave empty handed either but with extensive handouts and plaster casts of carnivore footprints you make during the laboratories. Also Jim will have his books and plastic carnivore footprint collections for sale.