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Scientific research has long assumed gray wolves are non-migratory during springtime, staying anchored to tend to litters of nearly helpless pups. For the first weeks of life, after all, pups are blind, deaf and extremely vulnerable.

A game camera image captured in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, however, upends that assumption. In the picture, an adult female wolf hauls a squirmy-looking pup by its hindquarters. The collared female, GPS data shows, was transporting the youngster from a den site to a new pack “rendezvous” site — effectively relocating her young family.

The photograph is part of a study, “Wolves use diverse tactics to track partially migratory

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