To Whom It May Concern Analysis

In 1924 because of a “government policy the federal government deliberately killed all the wolf packs” in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. This policy was passed because of the lack of knowledge and fear. These animals have been a scapegoat throughout human history. But what happens when we take a large predatory animal out of the ecosystem; when we keep the big bad wolf from doing its part in the environment.

                                                             Never Cry Wolf             For years, wolves have been falsely accused for crimes in stories, myths, and life. In Never Cry Wolf, author Farley Mowat demonstrates how even though wolves are mistakenly stereotyped as evil; people don’t know anything without evidence. Farley Mowat takes a trip to Churchill, Canada, to study

The most likely scenario for wolves beginning to coexist with humans is that a human hunting party came across a very young wolf cub and decided to take it with them. The wolf cub would have been very puppy-like at an early age. The reason that humans would ever take a wolf cub is because the cub would be seen as a valuable resource to humans back then. The wolf cub would become a sort of tool for humans since it is a better tracker,

For a number of years the wolves were not missed by most people, the ranchers and farmers were happy to have the pests gone. Coyotes,

What do you think of wolves? Do you think they’re blood-thirsty killers, or do you think they are rather friendly animals? In the book, Never Cry Wolf, (1963) the author, Farley Mowat, writes about his excursion to the sub arctic Barren Lands of Canada to study how wolves act and how the community is being affected by the wolves. The people of Churchill lead Mowat to believe the wolves are something that they aren’t, which is a blood-thirsty killer. Mowat then uses the rhetorical strategy Pathos throughout the book to show you how he personifies the wolves and how fear is all in our minds.

Over the past several years, the gray wolf, native to the Wisconsin area, has been listed federally as an endangered species due to the graphic and horrific treatment they had received during the industrialization periods of America, when they were frowned upon and hated because they are predatory creatures and did, on occasion, attack livestock and pets. Because the government was encouraging the hunting, including bounties for the animals, the wolves were hunted to near extinction. However, now Wisconsin faces a new problem. With the reintroduction of the wolves to the state, and their continued endangered status federally, the population has increased well beyond expectations, reaching what could be considered a problematic state. A

Should wolves be reintroduced into Scotland? Recently I watched a news article on the reintroduction of wolves to Scotland. This sparked my interest because I felt there was a large misconception about what they eat, why they kill it and how dangerous they are to people. It seems that it could have a vast impact on the environment the questions are: Should large predators such as the wolf be re-introduced into the wild? And is it truly safe?

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.

“Fears are the stories we tell ourselves”-Anonymous. In the book Never Cry Wolf (1963) the author Farley Mowat uses many rhetorical strategies to illustrate to the reader that wolves are not bloodthirsty beasts, but rather friendly, logical, and emotional animals that we have no reason to fear. People have an instinctual adversity to predatory animals such as wolves and even though fear is a natural reaction we should try to suppress it, and see wolves for what they really are. The people that the author met in the Canadian north based their fears of wolves solely on stories passed down through generations. Of all his strategies Mowat’s most effective persuasive appeals were logos, personification, and tone.

Without the proper knowledge needed to understand how the wolf works, the creature is inaccurately shown as a wild, vicious killer. As Mowat progresses through his research he learns about the wolves hunting abilities and begins to acquire new information and states,” I could hardly believe that the all-powerful and intelligent wolf would limit his predation on the caribou herds to culling the sick and infirm when he could presumably, take his choice of the fattest and most succulent individuals” (Mowat 126). The way the government and people portray wolves as mindless killers is not only false, but it is far from the truth. Wolves are instead intelligent creatures that have the ability to choose and pick the right kill. Also, as Mowat researches their eating habits he finds that “the wolves of Wolf House Bay, and, by inference at least, all the Barren Land wolves who were raising families outside the summer caribou range, were living largely, on mice” (Mowat 107). During the summer the wolves weren’t even that cause of the deaths of caribou. Instead they found new resources to live off of when the caribou leave so they can continue to survive. This information is an exact contrast to the

The article, Washington wolf killing sparks rebukes, controversy discusses the local issue in Spokane Washington. Cattle ranchers have experienced a problem with the Profanity Peak wolf pack. The wolves attacked the rancher’s cattle as they grazed. It was reported that 6 cows were killed. In response, hunters grouped together and killed 6 wolves. This hunting riddled many environmental groups. They say that the wolves should not be slaughtered simply for living out their natural ways. In recent reports, Washington State University disapproved a professor, Robert Wielgus, who released inaccurate information regarding cattle rancher’s actions that rallied people against the ranchers. The misguided information resulted in death threats towards

The declining wolf population has turned around and is now increasing at a steady pace. The National Park Service says “During the 1980s, wolves began to reestablish breeding packs in Northwestern Montana; 50-60 wolves inhabited Montana in 1994.”(NPS) We are very fortunate for the quick acts of transferring the wolves from Canada down to the Yellowstone National Park and to the intense research that has been done

In the past several years news organizations have reported that the wolf populations have been dwindling and researchers are attempting to bring the wolf populations back to what they should be. The population on Royal Isle has been struggling to survive. Many populations are suffering on the island and researchers are struggling to make the population hit a point where they are able to survive without overpopulating or under populating. The wolf population in upper Michigan has now hit a high where people are starting to hunt them to protect wildlife. It used to be a very small population but now it is thriving which will cause adverse consequences. This is also a struggle in Yellowstone National Park. People have a lot of different

The Wolf That Changed America, released by PBS Nature on November 22, 2008, discussed how in 1892-1893 a bounty hunter named Ernest Thompson Seton, journeyed out into New Mexico where the lands are untamed. He was hired to kill a dangerous wild animal, a wolf, named Lobo. Lobo was a legend to the ranchers who ran cattle in the northern part of the state. The ranchers wanted Lobo gone as he was patrolling the pasture where the cattle ate and ran. Each day the ranchers noticed that they were losing cattle and they knew which animal was responsible for this. The ranchers thought they could outsmart Lobo and put out traps where they could catch him and end the distress caused to the

hunting, and very dangerous and mysterious. I’m here to tell you how the life of a wolf is, and how they’re not dangerous to us humans.