Wolves
The wolf was once a much slandered animal. In the western world, people feared and hated wolves, and this legacy is reflected in stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Boy Who Cried Wolf. In these popular children's tales the wolf is made out to be a prowler and a killer of livestock and people. There is some basis for The Boy Who Cried Wolf, for wolves have killed cattle and sheep. 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 parents have usually run away, returning later to take their young to a more private den or to a rendezvous site (a place where the pack meets).
In areas where wolves are hunted or trapped they fear people and are very wary. However, in remote places, such as in the Canadian Arctic, they show little fear and will often allow people to live near them.
Two hundred years ago, Canis lupus, also known as gray wolves, were more widely distributed than any other mammal of historic times. They lived in large areas of North America, Europe, and Asia; the only places they could not occupy were deserts, tropical rain forests, and peaks of the highest mountain ranges. Wolves still live in large areas of the northern hemisphere; however, their primitive range has been greatly reduced due to changes in the landscape and people's efforts to exterminate them. In North America, wolves have been exterminated in the Atlantic provinces, Mexico, the United States (except Minnesota, Alaska, and some of the western states), and the heavily populated areas of southern Canada. They are still common in lightly settled portions of Canada from Labrador to British Columbia and in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
The red wolf was once common in the southeastern United States. It has been eliminated in the wild. However, through a captive breeding program, the species is being reintroduced into its former range.
It is virtually impossible to describe the typical appearance of wolves. Wolves of many large arctic islands and Greenland usually appear sn...
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...ibou numbers decline.
Wolves have already been exterminated in many places. However, there may be less danger of such excesses in the future, as wolf control is increasingly based on biology rather than emotion. There is now a greater awareness among people that the killing by wolves of deer and other prey species, which we may want for ourselves, is not a sufficient reason for the extermination of wolves. Sometimes populations of game animals are critically low, so on biological grounds wolf control could be justified; however, control programs are always opposed by ever-increasing urban populations. Proposed wolf culls have become major political issues in many areas in North America. When controls are carried out, they need to be done to meet certain criteria, which are based on sound scientific information and stewardship of wildlife populations.
In the wilderness scheme of things wolves play an important role. And from a human point of view, the great interest and value of having this intelligent animal as part of our wilderness heritage should be sufficient justification for allowing it to survive in a wide variety of wilderness and semi-wilderness areas all over the world.
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
The gray wolf, Canis lupus, on Isle Royal is a small ever fluctuating population. On the endangered species list since 1978, the gray wolf has recently been taken off the endangere...
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft. Fear drives mankind to hate what he cannot comprehend. With this irrational fear mankind is controlled and set on a path of destruction and chaos. In the autobiography Never Cry Wolf written by Farley Mowat, the main character (Farley Mowat), journeys to the Canadian tundra to study the much-feared wolf. There he discovers the fear brought upon by men, and how it can result horribly for the wolves. The human race was so frightened by the unknown species that they began to blame the wolves for cold slaughters, portrayed them as vicious killers, and because of the fear of the unknown tried to exterminate wolves all together.
...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.
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....
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 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
Wolves used to thrive in the western United States. There was ample game to hunt and plenty of places to live and wander. Until people moved in, wolves were settled. As European settlement expanded to the west, it began to take its toll on the wolves and their habitat. Clearing of the forests came first, which was then accompanied by significant over-hunting in this area (Noceker). Slowly wolves became concentrated into smaller and smaller areas in the west. Finally, they were assumed to be bothers to the ranchers and farmers and maybe a threat to those people who lived in the area.
During 70 years of absence from the Rockies, the Grey Wolf had been protected under the Endangered Species Act that was passed in 1973. Since the wolf is under the protection of Endangered Species Act a person could be punished with up to a $100,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail for killing a wolf. Back in the 1850's there was a major population increase of the wolves in America, this was due to settlers moving west. These settlers killed more than 80 million bison, the wolves started to scavenge on the carcasses left behind.
The habitat of the Arctic wolf is a very harsh place. The temperature must be below zero degrees. There are tundra, rolling hills, glacier valleys, ice fields, shallow lakes, and green flatlands (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). These snowy white creators don’t have that many places to live. Arctic wolves used to be everywhere in North America, but sadly now they are reduced to Canada, Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Arctic wolves are one of the most dangerous types of wolves; people need to find a way to save them and their habitat before they disappear forever.
Sometimes they even hunt moose. Their sense of smell is superior. Wolves hunt in packs all male to be exact. Wolf packs are mostly led by the parents of the wolves and some other wolves with the parent wolf to join their pack for hunting and killing their prey. The Gray Wolf can also run as fast as 31 - 37 MPH which makes them really good hunters. And they have been seen viciously attacking people. Unlike some animals wolves don’t hibernate so they have to hunt all year. Wolves also tend to mate in the early spring as well. Then before you know it the female wolf has babies some time during the winter, and their babies also have to eat.
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 ...
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.
...ts. “Wolves are very resourceful. All they need to survive is for people to not shoot them” ― Bob Ferris. This is true; we are the ones who made them extinct, so it is our job to fix it.
Studies show that wolves play a significant role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, and could even help stave off some of the effects of climate change. They help keep large animal herd populations in check, which can benefit numerous other plan...