The Story of Yellowstone Wolves
Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?
Many people fear wolves, sometimes for good reason. Wolves attack livestock,
and rabid wolves pose a terrifying threat. Our fear is reflected in
folk remedies, like wolfbane, for driving wolves away, and in folklore
-- consider Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood,
and The Three Little Pigs.
Nineteenth-century Americans saw wolves as obstacles to frontier expansion.
As a result, wolves were poisoned and hunted, often with government
bounties, as their habitat was claimed for ranches and farms. From coast
to coast, wolf numbers plummeted. Yellowstone National Park is just
one of many locations where wolves were erased from the natural landscape.
Recently we've begun to better understand the role of wolves in a healthy
ecosystem. Education efforts teach people to coexist with wolves and
federal laws protect them from needless persecution. Some wolf populations
are now on the rebound.
Predators keep nature in balance
Predators, including wild canines, are key to natural environmental
balance. When predators disappear, prey populations skyrocket, sometimes
with disastrous results. This happened in Yellowstone National Park
when the native wolves were eliminated through hunting and persecution.
Without wolves to prey on elk, elk populations expanded. The overabundant
elk overgrazed young aspen trees, turning forests into pasture. Coyotes
eventually moved into Yellowstone's former wolf territories. The coyotes
preyed on foxes, driving fox numbers down. This allowed rodent populations
to go up. The elimination of a single species, the wolf, changed the
delicate balance of the entire park ecosystem. Similar imbalances have
been seen in other areas where wolf populations have been eliminated.
You can see this in action by trying out the Yellowstone
Eco-Simulator.
Reintroduction efforts by private and government groups have resulted
in wolves being successfully reintroduced in parts of Idaho, Arizona
and Yellowstone National Park. Today Yellowstone is home to over 160
wolves, in 12 or more packs, that once again stalk elk in their natural
predator-prey relationship. Yellowstone isn't the only place wolves
are being brought back into their native habitat. In both Idaho and
Arizona, Native Americans are involved in wolf recovery efforts.
Mike
Phillips, formerly of the National Park Service, helped reintroduce
wolves in Yellowstone. To succeed, Mike needed to understand the
science behind this effort. He recommended repopulating the park
with Canadian wolves already familiar with eating elk, the historic
prey of the Yellowstone packs.
