Protect the Gray Wolves Essay

For the first time in 70 years, the howl of the Grey Wolf is being heard throughout Yellowstone Park (Sanders, 2000). In January of 1995, 14 wolves from separate packs in Canada were trapped and transported to Yellowstone. Once in the park the wolves were placed in one acre acclimation pens. In total there were three pens scattered across the northern portion of Yellowstone: one a Crystal Creek, another at Rose Creek, and the last at Soda Butte. During the wolves time spent in these pens they were fed winter kill, or road kill. The packs that were formed in these pens were released in the winters of 1995-1996 and also again in 1996-1997 for a second release period (Sanders, 2000). In 1995 fourteen wolves were released and in 1996 seventeen were released. In 1997 there were 64 pups born and since 1995, 33 wolves have died in the Yellowstone area.

While highly controversial, the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone Park has provided many beneficial ecological changes to the entire parks ecosystem. After a nearly 70 year absence, in January of 1995, 14 wolves from separate packs were captured in the Canadian Rockies and transported to Yellowstone National Park in the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho (Sanders par. 2).

-in 1973 the endangered species act was passed. Following the act in 1995 Yellowstone national park reintroduced grey wolves.

This is supported by in passage, “ Only 3 wolves left on Isle Royale,” it is stated that, “Vucetich and his colleague at Michigan Tech, Rolf Peterson, both support a "genetic rescue" of the island's wolf population — bringing in wolves from elsewhere to bolster island wolves and help facilitate breeding.” But this isn't true by the evidence that i have provided that species die off by natural selection and that federal designated land is a place that we are proud of not intervening with and it should stay that way this disprove many people

For one, by 1980, wolves doubled to 50. By then it was apparent, ‘balance of nature’ seems to be the force that guides nature. This shows that wolves should be introduced because they are needed for balance

In January 1995, after about 70 years after they have been exterminated by predator-controlled programs, grey wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park. Over the period of two winters, 31 animals capture din Canada were brought back to the park. Then they put radio collars on all the animals to track and record where they roamed. Laundre became more focused on the elk as they were the main prey to the wolves.

In the Greater Yellowstone area, the target goal was to maintain 15 wolf packs in the state of Wyoming, seven of these packs residing outside the area of national parks. Mission accomplished. As of December 2002, there were 22 documented packs in the state of Wyoming. Eight of the twenty two are living outside the boundaries of national parks, yet the

The wolf population grew gradually over the years ever since wolves arrived to Yellowstone. In the year 1995 there was only 3

For the first time in modern history on a hiking trail near the Cascades' Mount Shasta, a gray wolf pack has been witnessed since its kind was hunted to extinction nearly a hundred years ago.

Though wolves are one of the most researched and studied canines of the animal kingdom, many people are still cautious of the wolf and its behavior and is considered a safety threat to people in many urban and suburban areas. Recorded eradication of wolves can be dated back to the 1700’s hunted purely for their furs, though the complete eradication of wolves begins in late 1800’s after western settlement began to expand to Colorado, threatening valuable livestock. In defense, hunters and trappers supplied themselves

While researching the gray wolf, I found out that it is actually a very touchy subject in Michigan. The hunting of Gray Wolves has been a very controversial topic. Gray wolves are native to Michigan but were nearly wiped out in the 19th and early 20th centuries by hunting and state-sanctioned bounties. In 1973, when Congress created the federal endangered species list, only six wolves were known to still exist in the Michigan wild, and gray wolves were considered an endangered species. By 2007, the wolf population in the Upper Peninsula topped 500 -- far exceeding the recovery benchmark of 100 set by the federal government, making the Great Lakes gray wolf one of the most successful recovery stories in the history of the endangered species list. The gray wolf actually came off the endangered species list in 2012, but as of December 2014, has been relisted.

Wolves have always been a symbol of the wild, free in spirit and roamers of the land. These animals are considered majestic and protectors of the wilderness. They have always roamed the western United States, although their population has fluctuated over time. Over the past 10 years wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park has been a controversial topic to those of the United States. As of 1995, wolves have been reintroduced into the park. This has come with some strong opposition and yet has prevailed. The future of the wolf in Yellowstone park is now looking bright, although not certain since there still are those who want them banished again.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service are considering removing the gray wolf from the endangered species list once Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have enough wolves to be deemed sufficient to continue to expand the wolf population, requiring only that each of these three states have a management plan in effect to prevent the gray wolf from becoming endangered again. With the current attitude of the governments in these states, the wolf should not lose their federal support under the Endangered Species Act as it would merely serve to cause the wolves to become endangered once again, or at best, held to the absolute minimum population that the states can pass off as “viable, self-sustaining populations”

Throughout the 1970’s, the US Fish and Wildlife Service developed a criteria to help identify the red wolf from the other the canids in order to protect them. Between 1974 and 1980, the US Fish and Wildlife service used this to identify and discovered that there only 17 red wolves remaining in the

A single pack may contain animals that are black, shades of gray-brown, and white. Wolves in the heavily forested areas of eastern North America are more uniform in color. They are often a grizzled gray-brown like some German shepherd dogs. This color variation is a good example of natural selection, which enables those animals best suited to a particular environment to survive. On the arctic islands, where much of the ground is snow-covered for at least nine months of the year, being white is a distinct advantage, so wolves in the Arctic may be nearly white. In the mottled grey, green, and brown world of the eastern forests the normal coat of the wolf is an effective camouflage. As a wolf moves stealthily, or rests, it blends into the background and is hardly seen. Wolves in the Arctic have extremely dense under-fur, which insulates them against rigorous winters. Another adaptation to environment is their habit of hunting in packs, or groups, which enables them to kill large animals.