Alexander Archipelago Alaska

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In April of 2003 a female Alexander Archipelago wolf was hit by a taxi near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center in Juneau, Alaska. Not killed instantly, the black wolf was euthanized by police. She had been pregnant with four pups, probably due to be born within the next few weeks. Alaska State Troopers were called to retrieve the body.

The following winter, visitors and nearby residents began to hear the soulful cries of a single wolf howling across the lake.

Then, on a winter day in 2003, local resident and wildlife photographer Nick Jans was out skiing and spotted wolf tracks. The tracks led him to a young black wolf that was acting “goofy, gangly and clumsy like a teenager.” The wolf took an interest in Jans’ dogs and soon became a regular visitor to the area.

In the winter, the Mendenhall Valley and the frozen lakes within it are popular destinations for winter campers, skiers, skaters, and snow-shoers. As the 2003 winter season went on, more visitors and local residents reported seeing the lone wolf, presumably the dead female’s mate (or maybe her son), and with each report he seemed more bold, more interested in them – and in particular, their dogs.

Jans’ told reporters :  ”He developed a huge crush on our female lab, Dakotah, and that’s how he got his name. He would hang around our back door and sometimes be waiting in our yard. My wife Sherrie said, ‘There’s that Romeo wolf again.’”

The name stuck. ) is a rare subspecies of the gray wolf. It is unique to the islands of southeastern Alaska, and is the only wolf found in the Alaskan portion of the largest remaining tract of temperate rainforest in the world. Importantly, it is an apex predator, living almost exclusively off of Sitka black-tailed deer ( Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis ), a subspecies of mule deer. They may also take moose, small mammals, birds, and a surprising amount of salmon.