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Reintroducing wolves to national parks
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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. So while environmentalists thought they were helping to level out environmental problems, they succeeded in doing the opposite, by bringing back the wrong kind of wolves they started, depleting elk populations, and wild game.
In 1995 the environmentalists started to repopulate the wolves. The wolves started spreading like rabbits, across many states including Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington. The main area in the spot light would be Yellowstone because of the national park there it instantly hit the News and Press. People would come from all around the world to see a Yellowstone wolf. They figured that if they planted more wolves that it would bring back balance to the game. For almost seventy years wolves were very few and far between. Mostly because of trapping hunting and the fact that anyone who lives in Idaho hates wolves. Wolves now days kill whatever they can find they don’t care if it’s your dog or a farmer’s cow they see they kill. A unknown hunter had gone hunting with his dogs 3 of them got lost the next day he went out to find that they had all been killed by wolves. One of them was eaten almost to the bone while the other two had been harmed just to the point that they died. He was very upset and could do nothing about it because there is no law protecting the dogs.
To fully understand how wolves affect wild game you need to fully under...
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...ally. There is many rules and regulations on how and where they can be harvested.
Environmentalists thought they were helping to level out the environment but instead made it legal to harvest the wolves. By overpopulation they have caused many problems from farmers to hunters, even some game. In some small way they may have helped with the illegal poaching of the wolves by making it legal to purchase tags and trapping permits. There are many ways in which the government and the people who care about the wolves and the people that are effected are working to fix this problem.
Works cited
(1) http://www.ask.com/question/how-do-wolves-hunt
(2) Rob Pennell
(3) http://www.fws.gov/wafwo/species/Fact%20sheets/gray%20wolf%20final.pdf
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_Valley_wolf
(5) http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/wolves/?getPage=260
Nature, it is everywhere, everyone uses it. Quite often, however, people abuse it, such as with humans’ impact on grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are important to the environment because they have many useful purposes for the environment: “they provide an “umbrella” for the environment because they require such large home ranges.” (savethegreatbear.org/CAD/Grizzly.htm) The Grizzly Bear is extremely vulnerable to changes in its habitat and food cycle. This allows humans to detect small changes in the environment, just by watching this amazing species. The Government of Canada needs to try harder to stop the poaching of grizzly bears in Canada.
The human mind is very powerful, whether were trying to figure out what we don’t know, or trying to persuade others to fear the same as we do. With this fear mankind is set on a path of destruction. To conquer their fears humans often act out by violence. This violent outbreak doesn’t solve the problem but instead makes it worse. Wolves are examples of the ways humans handle their fears. Humans don’t understand the behaviors of wolves and that makes them believe that they are bad and should be feared. Mowats time researching the wolves has led him to believe that it isn’t the wolves who are the ones to blame, but the humans who were the cause of the main problem; the decrease in caribou. Mankind needs to realize that fear is a natural thing that occurs in everything, and we shouldn’t let our fears drive us to make bad decisions that we might regret later.
The history behind the extirpation of the grey wolf in the United States dates back to the very first European settlers that colonized eastern North America in the late 16th century. The killing of gray wolves was done primarily out of fear in an attempt to protect livestock, and, in some cases, to protect human life within the colonies. As more settlers expanded West, the practice of killing wolves was considerably increased to protect livestock that included cows, pigs, and chickens. As waves of European settlers expanded westward, they began to deplete the deer, moose, and elk populations. The gray wolves food source continual depletion gave rise to wolf populations actively targeting the settler’s livestock, causing great financial loss. The fiscal loss of livestock became such an issue to wealthy ranchers and settlers that they began to offer cash rewards for wolf pelts. This practice gave birth to a lucrative cottage industry of professional hunters and trappers. As the wolves began to move further West, and into Wyoming, they began to diminish the elk and moose population. To respond to this threat, Congress approved funding in 1914, to eliminate the native gray wolves from
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
Gray Wolf Optimization Gray wolf optimization is presented in the following subsections based on the work in [13]. 1) Inspiration: Grey wolves are considered as apex predators, meaning that they are at the top of the food chain. Grey wolves mostly prefer to live in a pack. The group size is 512 on average. They have a very strict social dominant hierarchy.
...I think that repopulating wolves in an area where they might have to deal with people is kind of a feeble-witted idea. Wolves are not an animal with a great reputation, even though they might not deserve that reputation most people do not like. I think that people as a whole would probably rather have deer in their back yard rather than wolves. Therefore, the questions what can happen, what should happen, and what will happen, with the deer problem all three have different answers. These answers will differ due to the area that the deer are in and the peoples' feeling towards these deer. It is too bad that there is not one perfect solution to the deer problem. Maybe in the future there will be, but until then we will have to deal with each problem that comes up individually.
One of the biggest reasons for the reintroduction of wolves back into Yellowstone was that they had originally roamed from Yellowstone all the way down to Mexico. While a lot of people were in favor of the reintroduction of the wolves, there were many who were against it. The main people who were against the reintroduction of the wolves back into the park were the ranchers who made a living in the areas surrounding the park.
...y white fur for fur that cost a lot of money. Some people like to sell their teeth for money or make jewelry. Mostly just for the thrill of it. Also to sell the whole wolf for money or cut off pieces of the wolf like head, ears, paws, and tail as a award for that they killed one. So because of all the stuff that people are doing to kill these wolves are making all them all disappear. There are less ad less. There are not in all 50 states as they use to be, they are reduced down to 7 states and Canada, that is how serious there case is now a day.
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. Another issue for taxpayers is that they have to pay for the damage the wolves do to the farmer’s animals.
The problem is that people do not know that they exist or even why they do. As mentioned earlier, hunters defend their actions by saying that they are controlling the animal population, but have they ever taken the time to think about why there are some areas that are overpopulated? One reason that causes some places to be overpopulated by deer is by damaging their habitat. By destroying forests, they really have nowhere else to go. Eventually, some species just cannot survive and they die off. Deforestation is a major environmental issue. It results in a great loss of different species. An environmentalist named John Muir was very passionate about preserving trees, and helping to prevent deforestation. In his essay “Save the Redwoods,” Muir tells us that “we cannot escape responsibility as their guardians.” We can help decrease the number of trees that are cut down by recycling materials and using recycled products. Sure, this will not completely stop deforestation, but it helps. What is important is that people become informed of what is going on with the environment. Being informed about issues can help encourage people to do something about
The wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park improved the park’s ecosystem greatly! An example of this can be found in the article “In the Valley of the Wolves,” which states “Now, nearly a dozen years since the wolves returned, the recovery of that same system to its natural balance is well underway, says ecologists William Ripple and Robert Bescheta of Oregon State University” (“In the Valley”). The article explains that the ecosystem has started to recover and is continuing to recover because of the wolf reintroduction. Another example is from “In the Valley of the Wolves,” “… wolves affect elk; elk affect aspen; and therefore wolves affect aspen” (In the Valley”). In other words, if there were no wolves to eat the elk, there would be more elk eating the aspen, and aspen is a huge factor in Yellowstone’s ecosystem. Without the gray wolf, Yellowstone’s ecosystem might function, but not to the best of its abilities.
Deer overpopulation is a controversial topic. Some believe that deer overpopulation is not a real problem. Some may also believe the high numbers that studies show, is a scheme to give hunters an excuse to hunt without reason. The truth is that deer overpopulation is a true issue. Deer, especially the eastern whitetail deer population in these modern times, is out of control. “There are an estimated 30 million whitetail deer in the United States today. Under optimal conditions, whitetail deer populations will double every two years”(Rooney). As the numbers of whitetail deer rise, the land for them to live on decreases. This may lead to deer walking on roads and causing accidents.
Gibson, J. William. "The New War on Wolves." Los Angeles Times. 08 Dec. 2011: A.25. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
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...
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....