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Eradication Of Wolf

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The eradication of wolves began as a result of the fear of wilderness viewed within the wolves and later as a need to protect livestock, which was viewed as prey. When Europeans came to the New World they brought with them this fear of wilderness and a need to tame or destroy such wilderness for the sake of mankind. But this does not explain the cruelness that was used as well as the extent of the eradication that went beyond the need of protection for livestock. The extent to which the wolves were hunted may have begun as a having an intrinsic purpose, but later on developed into a more socially constructed form of masculinity. Men in the 1920s where viewed as smart, cunning and strong hunters that were respected for their craft. These gentlemen …show more content…

By eliminating the top predator in the Yellowstone National Park it left the gates wide open for the once preyed upon to rise up in numbers and create a vexing problem for the worlds first national park. As the elk number increased, the number of willow sapling decreased, this in part caused by the overconsumption of saplings before they are able to reach maturity by the continuously growing elk. The reduction in willows led to a decrease in beavers, which use the willows to create dams. These dams, which should have been created, would have created pooled areas for other animals and plants to thrive but never had the chance. The biodiversity of the area is decreased because of the removal of an apex predator that under normal circumstances would have been used to keep lower trophic level populations under control. The carcasses left behind also would have provided food for scavengers and plants, however, without these population controls and naturally provided services a disruption in the trophic cascade was created. With the removal of such predator, the lower trophic levels are able to expand in numbers to a point that is no longer sustainable for the ecosystem. A call for reconciliation ecology is thus sought for in the Yellowstone National Park as well as in other areas experiencing the effects from the removal of an …show more content…

Today, wolves are just as heavily constructed, but in the opposite view. Wolves are viewed to be the embodiment of wilderness, and that they are removed from human influences and touches. However, wilderness is far from removed and bears a strict set of rules for its use and creation. Today’s man does not need to hunt for survival nor does society need a gentleman to rid the wilderness of its fearful creatures. Today’s man needs a place of solitude, to get away from the hustle and bustle of life and modern technology (and most importantly his wife). A desire for an area that is wild and set aside for the sole purpose of getting back to nature is what the middle-class man seeks. The masculinity norm of today’s man wants wolves in nature because they believe it makes the nature “rewilded” and makes it a wilderness. Wolves provide the ecosystem with a service to help stabilize the lower trophic levels populations and in doing so have even changed the rivers of Yellowstone National Park and the kinds of animals and plants that inhabit the park. They also make the park a wilderness in the eyes of society and a place to be sought after for reconnecting to

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