General Information

The Toklat Wolves of Denali National Park & Preserve

The Toklat wolves of Denali National Park are the most viewed, first studied, and longest known family lineage of wolves in the world.

The Toklat wolves are of major national, historical and scientific significance.

They are the first group of wolves ever to have been studied in the wild.

They are the oldest known family lineage of any wild canid.

The Toklat wolves have been seen and photographed by more people than any other wild group of wolves.

Their numbers have plummeted to the lowest in decades.

In the late 1930's, biologist Adolph Murie sat on a hillside in Denali National Park, formerly known as Mt. McKinley Park, watching what one day would become the most significant group of wolves in the world - historically, scientifically and economically. For 33 years, Dr. Gordon Haber has continued Murie's work to the present day.

What has recently befallen this once extensive wolf family no one knows for sure. The bulk of loss occurred when these wolves frequented an area of state lands heavily hunted and trapped. A virus transmitted by dogs, known as parvovirus, is suspected to have impacted wolf reproduction and pup survival within the park. When reproduction does not occur, or pack members are depleted in numbers, remaining wolves have a tendency to disperse to other areas.

In the Spring of 1998, the remaining pair of Toklat wolves produced four pups. Today, they are extremely vulnerable to being destroyed.

If you would like more information about the Toklat wolves of Denali National Park and Preserve, please contact:

The Alaska Wildlife Alliance
P.O. Box 202022
Anchorage AK 99520-2022

Phone: (907) 277-0897
Fax: (907) 277-7423


Executive Director: Paul Joslyn, Ph.D.
Associate Director: Karen Deatherage

"Reprinted with permission from the Alaska Wildlife Alliance