Should the Wolves Stay in Yellowstone National Park? National Parks are the cornerstone of every country because it preserves the rich cultural and natural resources of a nation, such as Yellowstone in the United States of America. Yellowstone National Park is the World’s First National Park which brings millions of attraction each year, it is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combine and have over a thousand species of plants and animal (Yellowstone Media). However, a very important type of species has been missing in Yellowstone National Park for a very long time. Wolves, which got reintroduce back into Yellowstone National Park, should stay there because without them the ecosystem would be out of balance. Wolves had live throughout parts of the world for thousands of years before humans just kept rising in population and minimizing the wolves’ population through the expansion of their territories for farm agriculture and industrialization. It is only in the United States where humans completely annihilated wolves; they did this by hunting the wolves down until the last wolf was killed in 1926. However, in 1995, 14 wolves were caught from Canada and release into Yellowstone National Park. This makes it almost 70 years since the wolves have been reintroduced back into Yellowstone National Park (17 July 2009) The wolves’ were hunted in late 1800 s’ and early 1900‘s in the United States because farmers wanted more land for their cattle’s to graze upon. As farmers were moving out west they felt threaten that the wolves would hunt their cattles so the farmers thought that the best solution would be to take them out of the picture. This was possible because at the time there were no government regulations on hunting.... ... middle of paper ... ...leaving a little portion of land to the animals is not that bad. The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone has been very beneficial to the ecosystem. We tried to eliminate this species but in the end, we need to ask ourselves the question, do we really need to eliminate another species based on our own biases and fears? We need to look past personal gain, and leave nature to take its course. Works Cited Yellowstone Science (2005): 3-5. Bringing the Wolf Back to Yellowstone. July 14, 2009. . Clash: Encounters of Bears and Wolves. PBS. n.d. William J. Ripple, Robert L. Beschtaa. "Restoring Yellowstone's Aspen with Wolves." (September 2007): 514-519. Wolves of Yellowstone. April 8, 2010. . Yellowstone Media. 1997-2007. .
This makes them seem less menacing and scary like the first article makes them look. Sharon Levy says in part "It is only in the two decades that biologists have started to build a clearer picture of wolf ecology….Instead of seeing rogue man-eaters and savage packs, we now understand that wolves have evolved to live in extended family groups.." (ll 19-22) This article also explains the positive overall effects of the wolves moving back to Yellowstone. Not only did the wolves have a new home filled with beautiful elk for prey they were also protected from hunters. This changed the attitude of the wolves as well as their population, of course their population grew and stayed more
Wolves are a natural mean of controlling the number of deer, elk, and other large game in an environment. The larger populations of herbivores are a problem for farmers and ranchers. The herd's winter grounds could be the same ranchers use for their cattle. In 1983 the case of Allen Nelson, a rancher in Montana, came to the attention of the Forest Service. Nelson owned land about twenty miles north of Yellowstone National Park. During the winter, elk would eat the grass on his land that he needed to feed his cattle. After Nelson's efforts to persuade the National Park Service elk were migrating form Yellowstone National Park failed he turned to the Forest Service. The Forest Service owned land next Nelson and did not want the degradation of the grass in the forest. Partnering with the State of Montana, Nelson and the Forest Service placed radio collars on a dozen elk. After tracking the elk through the next ...
By the 1880's the majority of the bison were gone, so the wolves had to change food sources. This meant that they turned their attention to domestic livestock, causing farmers and ranchers to fight back. There were even some states offering bounties for the wolves. Montana had a bounty on wolves that totaled more than $350,000 on 81,000 wolves. Due to the lack of a food source, as well as the bounties being offered, a wolf was no longer safe in the lower 48 states.
However, the hunters would not keep all of the wolves that grew up from the cubs they had. Keeping a wolf that became overly aggressive towards them, or if it had little practical use, would have been both pointless and dangerous to their group. They most likely would have killed those types of wolves or left them behind to fend for themselves. The hunters would have chosen semi-tame wolves and those with the most desirable traits and abilities and bred the two together, repeating the process until what resembled a dog today. The first bones found which ...
Grey wolves were removed from USA’s Yellowstone National Park in 1926. A big impact of removing wolves were how the Aspen trees were slowly disappearing.After the wolves were gone beavers were scarce in the northern range, numbers of songbirds and habitats were reduced. The elk population skyrockets because the bears and the coyotes were left to hunt the elk but they do not kill as many elks as the wolves did. When the reintroduction of the wolves in 1995 there was a drastic difference in the landscape.
I think reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park was a good idea because they have boosted the economy of Yellowstone National Park, and they have decreased the elk population.
I recently watched a video called: “How wolves changed Yellowstone Park”. The video was about how the reintroduction of wolves into the park caused substantial changes in the entire ecosystem. The park’s plant life immediately began to regrow at a rapid pace, animals that were previously scarce began rising in population, the physical land began to change as rivers filled and started meandering less. All of this, caused by one small act.
When the reintroduction of wolves began in the state of Wisconsin, a goal of 350 wolves was set, and this number was reached successfully in a short amount of time. Once this was reached, however, the population continued to rise dramatically and exponentially, and is now in the upper 600s (Allen). The problems now come down to a few simple questions that have complex answers. Will a regulated hunt get out of control, and a repeat of the past begins? Are the wolves posing any sort of threat in the present? Who or what would a hunt benefit? First, the issue of the past must be addressed. Back in the earlier years of the United States, wolves roamed free, and when farmers moved their livestock into what was then the wolves' territo...
Scientists were able to observe the effects of taking a major species out of an ecosystem, and the effects or reincorporating that species back into the ecosystem, which is described as “Scientific literature.” (Smith) A similar occurrence took place in Central Idaho, however was overshadowed by the prominence of Yellowstone. Wolves were high on the endangered species list and activists wanted to see a return of wolves to Idaho’s backcountry. In both Yellowstone, and Idaho many opposed the introduction to wolves, however many also supported through the Endangered Species Act, and wolf recovery program.
They’ve developed high techniques to be on top of the food chain. When the nomadic lifestyle changed to human settlements, wolves domesticated themselves in the settlements to take advantage of the commerce leftovers. Raymond Coopinger discusses the different approaches wolves had, “Wolves that had a higher “flight distance” tolerance would avoid these dumps, or spend more time and energy running away from the dumps when people approached than they would scavenging. Wolves with a lower “flight distance” would not startle and run from humans as easily, and this would allow them to eat more and succeed in this new niche” (pg. 152). Those who had the lower “flight distance” took the advantage to continue getting their food from humans. They became domesticated within them and began the era of domesticated dogs. Over time, the wolves would develop a shape more suited to scavenging, with a smaller body and smaller brain, which would then require less energy. The higher “flight distance” wolves did of course keep their distance and continued to hunt for their food and remain the predators they’ve always
The incidence of kill rate among domesticated animals by wolves has risen over 50% in the last twenty years in Minnesota (Bill). Barber Meyer states “the wolves are getting more aggressive” (Meyer). W. Tom says “that it is just part of the life cycle” (Tom). Yes it is true about the life cycle, but what is going to happen when there is not enough food for all of the wolves in the woods? They start coming into towns and small cities looking for food.
First off, there are alternatives to shooting a wolf that wanders too close for comfort, like hanging up pieces of bright fabric or plastic, flashing bright lights, and just the sound of a gunshot will scare them, all of those are alternatives. Also, for every wolf killed, studies show that the percent of livestock death caused by wolves increased by 10% so, if people stop killing wolves, they will stop killing livestock. Finally, wolves don't kill livestock on sight, Karl Patton, a cow farmer, found wolf tracks that went straight through his cow pasture and 3 cows were killed but! that is because the cows ran off into wolf territory. and Karl Patton cannot secure that area since it was not his property. But other then that, the wolf that passed through the cows, ignored the cows and went on its merry little
Should the gray wolf continue to be reintroduced into US parks like Yellowstone National Park? If so, then should they be protected? The gray wolf or (timber wolf as some people say) is a very noble animal and in nineteen ninety five they were released back into US parks (Gray Wolf Conservation). Now the wolf population both inside and outside the parks continues to grow and there are concerns about the impact that they may have on both the domestic and nondomestic animals that are their normal prey. Those concerned are mostly farmers and ranchers- the same groups of people who hunted the timber wolves almost to extinction. Their concerns may not be totally unfounded but they are certainly overstated and wolves should continue
Wolves live in many areas around the world. Without wolves overpopulation would happen and there would be
Wolves are amazing animals. They do good and bad being back in yellowstone. They bring in extra $23 million dollars a year from tourists. Busloads of school kids have seen wolves hunting, fighting and falling in love witch is a really good thing to see if your a kid so it can ingage the kid into loveing the out doors. The wolves wear collars that send out a unique radio signal. Park workers can locate the wolves with special equipment that picks up the signal. But they have attacked ranchers cattel before. And that dosent make them too happy. I think the wolves are doing more good than harm in yellowstone.