How Luna Survived More Than a Month Lost in Yellowstone
Luna, a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier missing for more than a month in Yellowstone National Park, was caught in a live trap and reunited with her owners on 14 October 2026. The Guardian A live trap is a cage that holds an animal safely until people arrive.
Her escape dates to 10 September. Her family, from California, had left her inside their cabin with a "Do Not Disturb" sign while they explored the park. Housekeeping apparently opened the cabin door, and Luna got out. Park staff chased her for over two hours before the owners returned.
She stayed loose in the Canyon Village area before capture. Good Morning America A Yellowstone representative told ABC News by email that the dog loose in that area had been captured and was alive and well. The search had been reported as under pressure as winter approached. U.S. News
The volunteer effort to recover her was led by Katie Boucher, president of the Norris Ark Training and Recovery Center in Norris, Montana. Volunteers worked across a park that covers about 3,500 square miles across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone was the first U.S. national park.
The capture was built around scent. Luna was found in a live trap baited with scraps from a T-shirt and pillowcase belonging to her family. Volunteers used family scent rather than food to avoid attracting bears or other wildlife. After capture, Luna was taken to a veterinarian. She was underweight but alert and in good spirits.
Luna had spent her first year on the streets before adoption, a history her rescuers cited as a possible factor in her ability to persist. Small dogs lose heat and weight quickly, and winter was closing in.
The broader context here is what this kind of recovery takes. A scent lure instead of food is slower but more selective. It lowers the chance of catching other animals or drawing predators in bear habitat, but it needs patience and people on site for weeks. Park staff, the owners, and an outside volunteer group had to keep working together across a large area. In this case, that cooperation held long enough for the trap to work.
