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The Winter of Our Discontent: To Wolf or Not to Wolf, That is the Question
Wolves. Everyone has an opinion.
In my home state of Wyoming, wolves have been a controversy since my great-grandfather was a trapper there. Yellowstone Park was created in 1872. My great-grandpa earned his money by trapping beaver, mink, and wolves, and selling the pelts. He spent his winters in the area around Yellowstone. Then, in the 1880s, Mormon families officially settled in one of the valleys south of the Park, so he married and settled there, too. My dad told me that his grandpa tried farming, but ended up selling his land, moving the family to town, and went back out in the mountains to resume his trapper life.
When the farmers and ranchers established settlements in the area around Yellowstone, wolves became a problem for them. After all, what would be easier prey: elk with those big antlers, or chubby cattle, with no horns? So, the government put a bounty on wolves, and by the late 1920s, the wolf packs were gone. Individual animals were sighted for the next four decades, but the big packs were no longer a threat. But, it isn’t always possible to predict what else will be affected when one thing changes.
Once the wolf packs no longer threatened the elk herds there was a big increase in the elk population in Yellowstone and the surrounding wilderness areas. This resulted in a near-complete depletion of the willows and aspens that grew along the streams in the valleys, which also left the beaver population without dam building materials. The beaver population diminished, leaving the streams free to rush downstream with no ponds to adjust the flow. Fewer willows and aspens also contributed to the erosion and damaged the riparian/aquatic ecosystems.
So, pressure to reintroduce the wolves began to mount. Ultimately, the pro-wolf arguments won out, so in the 1990s, these animals were back in Yellowstone. There are now many wolf sightings, but also, there has been a noticeable reduction in the elk population. The elk moved away from the streams, back in the thick timber, as one way of avoiding the wolves. And they broke up into smaller groups as a way to lessen the attraction of the predators. However, as the wolves increase in number, the elk population is definitely decreasing.
In those areas where wolves were reintroduced, the elk count has dropped by a range of 30-80% (in Idaho and Wyoming). The wolf population is now dramatically over the percentage that was intended when the restoration was begun. Some areas allow wolf hunting. Idaho actually put out a limited hunting season with a bounty for wolves. Farmers and ranchers make their case against the higher wolf population. The preservation people push back against those who want to control the wolves’ growth.
If you really want to get an argument going, just pick a side, and start talking! There are heated opinions everywhere. I don’t live there anymore, so I don’t have a stake in the game. I’ve seen some photos on Facebook that give me pause.
This is an aerial shot of a wolf pack chasing down some elk–which is nature doing its thing, I know.
This is a Montana family’s quarter horse that wolves killed in its pasture on their ranch.
These are fifteen cow elk killed apparently for fun by a wolf pack in Wyoming.
They weren’t eaten, they were just killed in a big meadow. (Yes, humans lined them up for the photo.)
So, questions? Opinions? What do you think about the wolf/elk/rancher controversy? It is inevitable that when humans get involved, that nature is going to be affected. But, what solutions would you propose? Here are some websites of those with varying opinions that you could read. It won’t clear things up, I promise!
Published in Group Writing
I am in favor of anything that keeps the deer population low.
Are wolves attracted to the scent of patchouli? Two birds, one stone?
As far as I know, national boundaries don’t have my effect on wild animals. The wolves in Canada are the same species of wolves that were wiped out in this country. They brought back to Yellowstone to reestablish the natural balance that once existed when wolves roamed there before. Extermination of alpha predators in any environment has a cascading effect on the ecology of that area. I haven’t read of any attacks by wolves on humans in the park or outside its boundaries. Those who choose to go into the wilderness, who really want a wilderness experience shouldn’t expect it to be sanitized of large predators or for those predators to be in cages. It is, after all, wilderness.
I spent a lot of time diving in John Pennekamp reef park off of Key Largo. I guided groups of trained tourists to the park, and we swam with Pelagic White Tip sharks on a regular basis, not to mention the occasional large barracuda. I always carried a bang stick just in case, but never needed it. We were visitors in their environment, just as we are swimming in the ocean at Cape Cod. When I was a graduate student at University of Miami in the mid to late 1960s I often saw gators in the lake adjacent to Student Union building. The large number of gators is due to many years during which the hunting and killing of alligators was banned. A reasonable amount of culling isn’t inappropriate. Hunting to extinction which was done to a large extent to the wolf is.
Fascinating. I knew that Lee had been in Texas (My historian uncle Rister wrote a book, “Robert E Lee in Texas”) but had quite forgotten, if I ever knew, that Grant had been in Texas as well. Now I shall have to research what in the world he was doing around Goliad.
Yeah, but it’s done. And since then, the human population density in places like Colorado has increased dramatically. The wolves of Yellowstone don’t recognize park boundaries either. They’re inhabiting areas well outside the designated “wilderness” now that their populations have exploded. Does Wyoming allow culling? I can pretty much guarantee Colorado won’t.
According to a book I read recently, wolves leaving the park boundaries are often shot legally by local ranchers. As to Colorado, I suspect that the populations of Denver and Boulder are a greater threat to the state than a few wild wolves.
That’s a good question. I suppose there are some negatives to go with the positives.
If the wolf community had better access to legal marijuana they probably wouldn’t be so aggressive.
Thanks to @cowgirl for the great post! This bridges perfectly into February’s theme. This conversation is part of our Group Writing Series under the January 2020 Group Writing Theme: Winter of Our Discontent. Thanks to all who made January brighter with their contributions!
February’s theme is “Advice:” our schedule and sign-up sheet awaits.
Interested in Group Writing topics that came before? See the handy compendium of monthly themes. Check out links in the Group Writing Group. You can also join the group to get a notification when a new monthly theme is posted.