research paper

Because wolves regulate the carrying capacity, preserve the health of herds, and complete the ecological cycle in a balanced system, they must be restored to Yellowstone. To understand why wolves should inhabit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), we must first look to history. As Douglas Smith et al say, “The history of wolves in North America and the west is straightforward: we killed them” (108). This statement may sound simplified, but actual wolf extermination was thoughtless and thorough. Many wolves were removed from regions where they weren’t even threats to humans or livestock (Klinghammer 446) because wolves, like grizzlies, were perceived as competitors for land and food.

Now 116 wolves now live and more then 75 pups. The controversy surrounding the reintroduction of the wolves are many from both sides. Some local farmers are against it because some wolves hunt their animals. However, if the farmers can prove their animal was attacked by a wolf, then the government would reimburse them for the animals value. Another problem is that some taxpayers are against the reintroduction because it cost them money to get the wolves back into the park.

This is a misdemeanor. Wolves hunt deer, rabbits, moose, and other animals (“Wolf”). Because most of the animals they hunt are in fact larger than them, the sickly, inferior, or downright small are targeted since wolves track then kill prey up to ten times their size with their teeth(“All about Wolves”). This makes the hunted animals population stronger. While wolf hunting habits are a prime example of natural selection, human hunters are the opposite.

Wolves cause a major threat to families, their livestock, wild game animals and to bear hunters’ dogs living in rural areas. Wolves are a growing threat and they should be legally regulated by the process of hunting and trapping so they are kept down to a healthy number. Human kind began hunting wolves at least 13,000 years ago when the wolf became a threat to their livestock. Over the past hundred years wolves were hunted for their pelts and also so that farmers could keep their livestock safe. What most extremist wolf supporters don’t know is that wolves were not an extinct species.

Why were these stopped? “It’s those damn tree-huggers again.” Reintroducing Wolves into the southwest is the biggest mistake the government has made in several years. Farmers and ranchers suffer some of the most losses from wolves out of anyone in our society. For one, the wolves eat cattle, which is some rancher’s only means of income. Yes, there are programs which reimburse ranchers for their losses, but the raising calves to cows, feeding them, and immunizing them is more money than one wants to put out for one animal if it isn’t your income.

The reintroduction of wolves has effected game a crossed the western Rockies. In many ways wolves have been a negative influence. They have caused problems in many wild game populations, including deer, elk, and many more. What has caused these problems, how do wolves hunt, and how do we control them? The original wolves were very different from the ones that were planted.

People... ... middle of paper ... ...rs livestock. The government put out a program so farmers could kill wolves that they saw attacking their livestock, or if they felt that their own lives were threatened. 18 months after this program was out only ten wolves were killed. which proved that there would be no abusing the law or pushing the wolves to extinction. (Meersman) In conclusion predator killing is acceptable and should stay legal for three main reasons: it would control species from overpopulating, it would keep them from destroying farmland and from killing farm animals, and if done legally it won’t lead to any mass killings or extinction of animals.

But what of Little Red Riding Hood? There are no records of wolves killing humans in Canada or the United States. Yet, when wolves were spotted near rural communities, fear used to grip the populace, but over time this has become less prevalent. Today, many people know that scientists studying wolves have lived very close to dens where there were pups without being attacked. They have even taken pups from a den without being injured.

The latter group wishes to enable the coyote and, perhaps other predators, to survive in the open range, as they have for millions of years. Species that kill farm animals include others: mountain lions, bears, bobcats, and red wolves as well as coyotes. This paper on aversive conditioning mainly addresses whether behavior of coyotes can be altered without affecting their survival in the wild. The question Mssrs. Gustavson and Garcia attempt to address is whether coyotes can be conditioned to kill animals such as mice, rabbits, gophers, and squirrels- species of no economic value in the western United States- while leaving sheep alone.

Help Stop the Extinction The Grey Wolf’s, Canis Lupus (“Animal Fact Guide”), habitat can currently be found in the tundra, grasslands, forests, and some deserts ("Gray Wolf National Wildlife Federation"). Some areas include northern United States such as Alaska and Montana as well as Canada and some parts of Mexico (“Basic Facts about Gray Wolves”). The wolf mostly resides in these areas in hopes that it can find its prey easily. These animals include; beavers, elk, deer, rabbits, moose and caribou (“Animal Fact Guide”). But in the past seventy years the Grey Wolf’s population has been diminishing rapidly.