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Can wolves help save U.S. national parks?
Research suggests that reintroducing small, managed populations of wolves to U.S. national parks can help restore damaged ecosystems.
These areas, says Daniel Licht of the U.S. National Park Service, have been environmentally impacted by population growth of hoofed mammals (ungulates), which have prospered in the absence of "top-level" natural predators.
The introduction of wolves would reduce ungulate populations, leading to greater plant biomass and diversity.
Yellowstone National Park has the highest concentration of large and small mammals in the lower 48. It's now the premier place to see wolves from the roadside, according to wildlife biologist Doug Smith, head of the Yellowstone Wolf Project.
Thirty-one gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone from 1995 to 1996. By 2008, there were an estimated 400 wolves in the region. The controversial animals feed primarily upon elk, but are loathed by ranchers in neighboring regions, because they are seen as a threat to livestock.
Researchers say reintroduced wolf populations could possibly be controlled by surgery or contraception (don't you need opposable thumbs to put on a condom?) and all animals could be tagged and tracked by GPS to monitor and prevent predation on domestic species. Physical and virtual barriers such as electric fencing are also an option.
The Yellowstone wolves have provided recreational and economic benefits. In 2005, the park experienced an increase in visitors, and expanded ecotourism spending by $35 million, because the wolves are so popular with tourists.
The Lamar Valley is the best place to view wolves in Yellowstone. Another hot spot outside the park is Jackson Hole, Wyoming's, National Elk Refuge, and (if you want to cheat) Yellowstone Bear World, in Rexburg, Idaho.
RELATED: Top Ten Most Badass Animals Native to the USA
Filed under: Activism, North America, United States, Ecotourism, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Lisa Mar 20th 2010 7:13AM
Yes! Everything has a balance. We are killing that balance. My neighbor kills every fox that he sees near his property and guess what, we now have a rat problem. Why you ask? Because fox eat rats!!!!! Kill the fox and you f*ck up the balance of nature!!!!! People we need to coexist!!!! We all have a purpose on this planet. No one deserves to be here more than the other.
Melissa Mar 20th 2010 7:37AM
I must agree with you, but only to a point - the wolves and other animals made their homes there far longer than rangers or other residents living near National Parks - if you don't like it, move your ranch elsewhere - humans encroached on their homelands, they didn't encroach on ours; either live with them, work with them, or leave.
Kadah Mar 20th 2010 6:16PM
The wooly mammoth used to roam earth, too, even the western U.S. I really think that we need to "reintroduce" the closest relative the the wolly mammoth; the elephant. We will protect them, sue to keep them from being controlled, and let them do whatever they want. And when the beasts rampage through towns and cities, stomping cars into piles of metal, holding up traffic, destroying homes and killing people, remember THEY WERE HERE FIRST and if you don't like it, move!
Amy Rosenberg Mar 20th 2010 7:46AM
Wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bears, and other predators can also breed in numbers that outgrow their habitat's ability to support the species. We for get this in our efforts to protect them. When these predators go outside their alloted habitat, it is a sign that they are too numerous for their habitat. Therefore, it should be the job of people to cull the species for their own good. Either that or we can become their food supply. Which is your choice?
mary Mar 20th 2010 9:12AM
sooooooo.....what about humans? seems to me all we've ever done is encroach on animals habitats and on other humans habitats. we weren't here first.
Pam S Mar 20th 2010 10:44AM
ok, really now, they don't breed at random, they move off their land in search of food, they will stay forever in one place if the right foods. Only the alpha pair breed and not every yr. get to know your animals!
mario Mar 20th 2010 12:43PM
The arrogance of humans is unbounded. Whenever someone tells me what my choices are they are trying to define and limit MY options. I refuse to restrict my world view to your narrow definition. I reject your reality.
greta Mar 20th 2010 2:55PM
Humans are the most dangerous" species. Wolves kill for food...Humans kill for sport (and sometimes food). I'd rather have the wolves in my area than some of the humans that cohabit this planet. We have demonized wolves far too long. They are no more or less dangerous than other carnivorous species...Humans included.
Sylvie Mar 20th 2010 8:12AM
Predators are a necessary part of the ecosystem because they keep the prey animals numbers down and that protects the grasses and trees and allows more types of smaller animals to live in them. We will have healthier parks and wildlife if we allow predators to live in the national parks. The problem in rural areas is how to protect ranchers' herds and domestic livestock from predation by this wildlife. We want to have beef on our tables at reasonable prices and we also want to know that wolves can live wild and free somewhere. Perhaps there could be some government subsidy for ranchers who lose livestock to wildlife predation? If predators eventually stray from protected park and rural areas into suburban areas then culling the strays would be necessary.
George Mar 20th 2010 8:55AM
Then why the Hell is Montana & Wyoming killing wolves by the dozens. I'll most people don't even know those states & Palin's Alaska have past legisltion to kill hundreds or I should say are killing hundreds as we speak.
Bill Mar 20th 2010 11:23AM
George, where do you live? Florida?? I live in Montana, I hunt wolves too. Contrary to what the Fish/Game, or the Forest service tells you here, there are more wolves than you think. I counted 22 wolves in one pack near Wisdom Montana. The wolves do balaqnce the eco system but the problem is the typical enviro person who only listens to half the argument. Within 3 years the wolves have decimated the Elk and Deer in several areas of Montana. The wolves kill just for the sake of killing. Try watching a wolf pull a fetus from a cow elk as she is giving birth!! The numbers of the wolf have to be controlled because they do not have the unlimited range to hunt as in years past. Dont give me that adage about they were here first and the humans encroach. That statement is ignorant and ridiculous. People are here and the wolf is here, so lets try to have a balance. To do this the wolf populations need to be controlled. Living in Montana is a wonderful experience that few Americans ever get to see. People who live in suburban areas and big cities do not have a clue what its like in the North West. And to rebut your statement about " hundreds being killed. We killed 75 in Montana. You have to apply for a special license and the FWP monitor the hunting very closely.
Bill Mar 20th 2010 11:54AM
Very well said, Bill. Perfect.
leon Mar 20th 2010 9:26AM
They can take all the wolves they want from around here. I have 2 packs that crusade around my place and kill or try to kill even my pet dog. I have had the wolves trying to get into my garage to get at my dog. ( I keep my dog in the garage when I am not home.)
This is no lie either, I had a pack of 7 wolves follow me and tree me during bird season. They stuck around for quite a while and didn't run away when I fired my shotgun. After I finally decided to take aim instead of wasting shells in the air I made a rump shot on one and they finally left longe enough for me to get home.
Please come and take the wolves from here,
galbraith1065 Mar 20th 2010 9:31AM
You have to love ranchers, with their cattle grazing on federal lands, complaining about wildlife bothering them. Boo hoo!
Clifford Mar 20th 2010 9:48AM
A good place to see American Buffalo in the wild is in Pawnee OK. We also saw Wolves in the wild state in the middle of that same day. I've been fortunate enough to swim with sharks, Croc's and gators and the like. The worst hurt I have endured were Jellyfish stings, or pain inflicted by another human. We have encountered Bears and panthers in the wild. It is just common sense and respect for other predator species, I guess. I fear the humans more than any other animal. Most of my bretheren authority figures are better suited to watch these wild species on a screen.
samwise246 Mar 20th 2010 9:59AM
Here in upstate South Carolina, we have just started to have a problem with coyotes. They have attacked and killed some dogs and other pets. How long before the population grows to where children are in danger as they are in California and other places?
RJD Mar 20th 2010 10:05AM
What people need to remember is that there is one species of animal that th eplanet can do without and that is humans. When we kill off an entire speices of animal, even if it is a lowley form of fly, we screw up the entire planet. but if all the humans dissapeared the world would balance itself back out relatively quickly.
John C. Billingsley, Jr. Mar 20th 2010 10:43AM
Hay, this could be a good thing, the Wolves could kill and eat the ranchers and that would end one problem then the ecogolist and problems solved.
Aileen Scott Mar 20th 2010 10:41AM
The imported Canadian Gray Wolves are not native to the United States. To bring them here, propagate them and unleash them on the native wildlife population was a horrendous mistake. At the rate they're multiplying and decimating the elk herds, we soon will have the ungulates on the endangered list. The "defenders of wildlife" are defending only their imported wolves. It doesn't seem to matter if they kill all of the deer, elk and moose. They don't kill just the old and weak, they kill pregnant cows and does, tearing the unborn from their still living bodies. They only eat a small portion of their kills. Most are killed for sport. As for the domestic cattle, sheep, etc. that they destroy, a great many of them are on private property, not government land. And when cattle are on government land, they don't graze there for free. For the TRUTH about the Canadian wolves, see www.saveElk.com
Duncan Mar 20th 2010 1:39PM
Common mistake...there is no regional wolf per se... Wolves are all Canis Lupis...and no real distiction exists from "Timber" wolf to "Grey" wolf to "arctic" wolf... Even the "Mexican" wolf being bred back into the wild is a Canis Lupis... The slaughter of wolves now is due to the lifting of the wolf off the endangered species lists... To many studies have proven the wolf will only kill what it needs...they do not kill for fun (Bill)...and yes they cull out the weak and young which in turn makes a herd of Elk stronger. But jsut as we have humans who go a bit astray like serial killers so do animals...so blaming a behavior on all for teh misdeeds of one is ludicrous...