Index
Concerns about reintroducing the Grey wolf:
elk pregnancy rates have declined where wolves are most active
Many ranchers in the Northwest are negatively effected
Reasons for reintroducing the Grey wolf:
Current research has shown that contrary to past predictions, wolves do not decimate elk calf populations
wolves play an important role in keeping the environment balanced and healthy
ecosystem's are in danger without wolvesConcerns About Wolf Reintroduction
Many hunters are concerned with the reintroduction of wolves because they claim that elk calf numbers are declining because of wolf predation. Surveys by Yellowstone National Park Biologist's have found that elk calf numbers have been reduced from about thirty calves per hundred cow elk to fifteen calves per hundred cows. A citizen's group called "Friends of The Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd" (FNYEH) predicts an "elk disaster" in the near future. They claim that Yellowstone's elk population is dramatically declining and that areas in southwestern Montana may be next to experience this effect in elk numbers (Dickson).
Research data from the Gallatin Canyon, Yellowstone National Park show that elk pregnancy rates have declined where wolves are most active. The elk spend less time eating and more time watching out for predators when wolves are within the area. According to Dave Christianson, (a biologist who has been doing research on this subject in the Gallatin Canyon for almost four years now) these effects can reduce cow elk pregnancy rates. (Boswell).
Negative Effects on Ranchers
Many ranchers in the Northwest are angry with the whole idea of reintroducing the Gray Wolf. The ranchers' complaints usually are:
- Wolves are a threat to livestock (especially sheep)
- They have to check up on their livestock at least twice as often
- Wolves have a negative effect on outfitting services
- The deer and elk get scared away, which reduces hunting opportunity
- Have to spend more money (making fences, replacing livestock, etc.)
Martin Davis, a fourth generation rancher in Wyoming says, "We don't need to have a predator that's trying to kill our livestock, the way we make a living." When asked by a reporter about ranching with wolves in the area he put it this way, "Well, it would be just like a store owner having to leave the backdoor open at night and saying, I hope the thieves don't steal too much tonight". (Brancaccio).
Reasons for reintroducing the Grey Wolf
Wolf Presence Can Improve Pronghorn Hunting
There is recent evidence that supports the idea of wolf presence improving the quality of pronghorn hunting. Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995, and since then pronghorn populations have increased by fifty percent. A recent study done by the wildlife conservation society has provided evidence that more than a third of pronghorn fawns have survived in wolf populated areas and barely ten percent in areas without wolves. The researchers say that this is because wolves force out and kill coyotes, which are far more desirous to prey on pronghorn fawns.
Do Grey Wolves Really Decimate Elk Calf Numbers?
Current research has shown that contrary to past predictions, wolves do not decimate elk calf populations. Wolves primarily feed on the injured or weak that would die on their own anyways. This evidence blames bears for killing elk and deer fawns within the first six months of existence. Biologist Doug Smith has done research in the Yellowstone area and claims that wolves almost never kill elk within six months of being born. He says that bears are "far and away" the main predators of elk calves within the first six months (McIntyre).
A Balanced & Healthy Environment
Biology experts believe that wolves play an important role in keeping the environment balanced and healthy. Reasons supporting this claim are:
- Wolves provide carrion (dead animal carcasses) for scavenger species.
- Scavengers' keep the rodent population under control.
- If there is an absence of carrion, rodents will over-populate.
- plant life will quickly decimate
- This could lead to starvation for virtually all animals within the ecosystem
Ecosystems' In Jeopardy without Wolves
Experts William J. Ripple and Robert L. Beschta have done extensive research in the area of wolf reintroduction. They believe that ecosystem's are in danger without wolves. They claim that without the presence of wolves, herbivore communities, such as elk and deer, can profoundly change the amount of vegetation to the point of degrading an ecosystem. When the plant life is gone in the area so are the animals, leaving us with desolate forests (755).
Wolves Almost Never Attack Humans
There is also a concern about our safety while being in the wilderness with a predator such as the wolf. Contrary to the movies and myths of wolves as ruthless; aggressive man killers, wolves rarely ever attack humans and almost never kill them. The wolf is very elusive by nature and does not hunt nor even seek contact with humans. In fact we as people are more likely to be killed by our own domestic dogs than from a wolf attack.
Before researching this topic I was against the idea of wolf reintroduction, solely because I'm an avid hunter. My favorite animals to hunt are elk, and I have always thought that wolves would demolish their numbers. After researching this issue I have come to a different point of view. I have turned one hundred and eighty degrees and now support the idea of wolf reintroduction. I now believe that wolves are an important part of the environment and help it greatly. I believe that wolves do not destroy elk populations but may help them in the long run by cleaning out the old, weak, and diseased. They also keep herbivore numbers in control so that they don't consume too much vegetation, forcing many herbivore animal species to starve. Wolves also provide carrion for scavenger species which prey on rodents, keeping rodent numbers under control. Wolves make the ecosystem stronger and provide a balance that is essential for a healthy environment to exist.
Boswell, Evelyn. "Elk, wolf researchers probe wildlife battlefield." MSU News Service April 19, 2006.
<http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3646>
Brancaccio, David. "A Ranchers view.' Now. Montana: Paradise Valley, 8/18/2006.
<http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/wolves-ranchers.html>.
Dickson, Tom. "Will Wolves Wipe out Montana's Elk?." Montana outdoors July 2002:
<http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/html/articles/2002/wolvesvselk.htm>.
"Enemy of my Enemy." National Wildlife 46.4 Jun 2008 10. 1 Oct 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=32169544&site=ehost-live>.
McIntyre, Thomas. "Big Bad Wolves." Field & Stream 111 Mar 2007 17. 2 Oct 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=24372693&site=ehost-live>.
Ripple, William J.'Robert L., Beschta'. "Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: Can Predation Risk Structure Ecosystems?." Bioscience 54.8 Aug 2004 755-766. 3 Oct 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dirct=tru&db=f5h&AN=14078875&site=ehost-live>.
Wilmers, Christopher C., Eric, Post'. "Predicting the influence of wolf-provided carrion on scavenger community dynamics under climate change scenarios." Global Change Biology 12.2 Feb 2006 403-409. 1 Oct 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=19506886&site=ehost-live.>.
