O-Six


0-Six, also known as 832F, was a female gray wolf, whose death by hunting just outside the protected area of Yellowstone National Park stirred debate about the hunting and protection of wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The bestselling book American Wolf focused on O-Six's life and on conservation policies in the Yellowstone region.

Life

O-Six was for several years the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon pack in Yellowstone National Park. Born in 2006 in the Agate Creek pack, she was principally known by the year of her birth. She was a member of the fourth generation of wolves born in Yellowstone after the 1995 reintroduction of wolves to the park. Leaving her birth pack, she established the Lamar Canyon pack as a three-year-old in 2010. The pack's territory in the easily-accessible Lamar River valley allowed tourists and wolf researchers to observe the wolves extensively. As alpha female, O-Six was one of the most visible and photographed wolves in Yellowstone, and was described a "rock star."
After several years, O-Six was captured, fitted with a radio tracking collar and released, gaining the collar number 832F. She produced three litters before the Lamar pack was dispersed by another wolf pack. Wandering into new territory, the remaining pack members, including O-Six, left the park, where no hunting is allowed, and appeared on private land to the east, near Crandall, Wyoming, during Wyoming's 2012 wolf hunting season. The allowed take in that season was eight wolves. She was shot by a hunter on November 6, 2012, the eighth wolf to be legally killed in Wyoming in 2012.

Legacy

The death of O-Six was immediately reported in the New York Times, leading to extensive coverage of O-Six and wolf-hunting policies surrounding Yellowstone. Following the publication of the bestselling book American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee in 2017, which focused on O-Six's life, O-Six received additional media coverage, and was the subject of a National Geographic documentary. More coverage followed the shooting of O-Six's daughter 926F in Montana in 2018.