The Importance Of Wolves To Yellowstone National Park

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.

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.

So maybe the pronghorn aren’t completely being wiped out from humans but the when throwing the factor of deep snow into the mix it is hard to believe that their population is dwindling from that factor. Overall pronghorns in Yellowstone National Park are not thriving because of the negative human interaction in correlation to their ecosystem.

Also, the government wanted to step in and help the economy, so bounties were set in order to encourage the hunting of the creatures. Communities began to see the "bounty hunters" as heroes, and these men felt as such. The attitude towards wolves spiraled out of control, causing hunts based on vengeance and hatred, and inhumane practices of poisoning, trapping, and torturing began. Even a former governor of Alaska, Jay Hammond, felt that flying in a plane and shooting down hundreds of wolves was necessary to protect the citizens of the state. Wolf furs were coveted, the animals were loathed, and the image of the wolf as a cowardly murderer stuck based on old-fashioned beliefs and legend-based fears. Nothing was done to stop the practices, and the hunts continued to be encouraged, until there were basically no wolves left to hunt (Lopez 139-145). It was nearly too late once the problem was noticed, but the government finally stepped in to address the problem. The wolves were going extinct, and it became clear that the animals were an important part of the ecosystem. The timber (gray) wolf was placed on the endangered species list, and severe consequences were put into action for anyone who hunted the animals illegally. The Wisconsin DNR began a very carefully regulated action plan to reintroduce the wolf to the state, which included radio collars and careful tracking of the animals in order to monitor their progress, as well as make sure they stay in

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).

Since the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone they have created an astounding and advantageous trophic cascade. A trophic cascade is an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain. These often result in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling. In a three-level food chain, an increase (or decrease) in carnivores causes a decrease (or increase) in herbivores and an increase (or decrease) in primary producers such as plants and phytoplankton according to briticanna (how to make better). The entire ecosystem was able to become whole again because the wolves, a key species, were reintroduced. Now this may seem weird, a predator comes into the area a begins to kill animals, how can this be beneficial in any way? Well the fact of the matter is that it is extremely beneficial. The reason being the problem in Yellowstone was the overpopulation of the elk. These elk had no predators, they were free to roam and reproduce, and they did this very well. Now elk are also a

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

“Restoring an ecologically complete ecosystem in Yellowstone requires the return of willows--and with them, beavers. There's a clear threshold for ecosystem recovery. Willow stands must be more than 6 feet tall, the scientists found. That height is important, says Marshall. Then willows are beyond the reach of browsing elk, and can serve as seed sources for new young willows. Once willows have returned, beavers will gnaw down a certain number of them to build dams. The dams will further slow stream flow, allowing yet more willows to grow. The results offer new insights on the role of wolf-driven trophic cascades in the Yellowstone ecosystem, says Hobbs. Trophic cascades like that in Yellowstone occur when predators--or the lack thereof--in an ecosystem change the abundance or alter traits of their prey, in turn affecting the next lower trophic level.” ("National Science Foundation", 2013)

We looked first at the relationship between the wolf population and the moose population. From about 1960 to 1970, the wolf population remained fairly consistent at about 20 to 25 wolves. During this time, the moose population grew steadily from 500 to over 1200. The next 10 years saw a doubling of the wolf population to 50. This same 10 years saw a decrease of the moose population from over 1200 to over 800. Then in 1980 began a two year drastic decline in the moose population, which was brought down to 15. For the rest of the decade, the moose population remained quite low at numbers near 20. During the 1980s, the moose population doubled again from around 800 to

Ed Yong makes very valid points on how the wolves of Yellowstone have impacted the overly populated elk herds. He has this to say about the herds; “Today the population stands at just over 6,000 down from 19,000 in the elk’s wolf-free heyday,” (ll57). This might seem like a terrible drop in the elk’s numbers, but it is actually a good thing. Yong tells us, “The large deer had run amok in the wolf-free decades, causing serious damage to the park’s trees,” (ll5-6). So in reality, while there are far less elk now, the trees can start to build back up again.

Wolf recovery would be a big step in maintaining wildlife. For instance, in Yellowstone a

The wolves being reintroduced to yellowstone was a big change and it made the ecosystem swing right back from that overpopulation of elk and lack of plants that was devastating the ecosystem in yellowstone.But if the wolves weren't reaintrowdust then the elk would have grazed the grass so much that the grass would not be able to regenerate which would make it diy and send a chain of effects into moshun.Like the plans would all diy and make the ruts dry which would mack the ground unstable because there would not be any ruts to hold the soil in place and it would be a vay big dust bowl all over again.The other one happened because of over farming but yellowstone was not fare

If wolves are reintroduced in the park, then they will prey on expanding elk and deer populations

In this article, authors William Ripple and Robert Beschta focus on the issue of predation and the way it affects biodiversity and otherwise alters ecosystems. While many other studies have stressed the lethal effects of predation by carnivores, the authors of this study have chosen to focus on how nonlethal outcomes of predation affect the structure and function of ecosystems. The authors give two main objectives to their study: first to provide a short synthesis of the potential ecosystem responses to predation risk in a three-level trophic cascade involving large carnivores, hoofed animals, and vegetation; and secondly to present research that centers on wolves, elk, and woody browse species in the northern area of Yellowstone National

In Rewilding Britain: Bringing back Wolves, Bears, and Beavers Back to the Land by Adam Vaughan discusses of wildlife goals Britain plan to draw back wild animals into their environment. The growing hospitality of Wilders of Scotland had encouraged Britain to rewilding, meaning to open their lands for wild animals to make it their home and decrease extinction of wild animals. According to Vaughan, active and negative feedbacks from the citizens of rewilding challenge the idea for Britain to open for the wilds. However, Britain may be at ease for Scotland had found that by reintroducing lynx and wolves can decrease the growing populations of deer. At the same time, there is no record that lynx has attacked human beings in Europe. Beavers set