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The recovery of the grey wolf in Yellowstone National Park is an outstanding example of a successful reintroduction. A general question concerning reintroduction is the degree to which genetic variation has been preserved and the specific behavioural mechanisms that enhance the preservation of genetic diversity and reduce inbreeding. We have analysed 200 Yellowstone wolves, including all 31 founders, for variation in 26 microsatellite loci over the 10‐year reintroduction period (1995–2004). The population maintained high levels of variation (1995 H₀ = 0.69; 2004 H₀ = 0.73) with low levels of inbreeding (1995 F_IS = –0.063; 2004 F_IS = –0.051) and throughout, the population expanded rapidly (N₁₉₉₅ = 21; N₂₀₀₄ = 169). Pedigree‐based effective population size ratios did not vary appreciably over the duration of population expansion (1995 N_e/N_g = 0.29; 2000 N_e/N_g = 0.26; 2004 N_e/N_g = 0.33). We estimated …