WHY WE NEED WOLVES IN YELLOWSTONE

by

Christine A. Hager

Around 1930, the last wolf was spotted in the Yellowstone Area by a paid hunter, he got a shot off but his aim was not true. That was the last recorded sighting of a gray wolf in the Yellowstone Park land. From 1918 to 1935 government scouts recorded killing 35 mountain lions, 2,968 coyotes and 114 wolves (Phillips 1996). Those are total numbers, since a wolf hadn't been seen since 1930, the 114 wolves had been exterminated in the early 1920's. In 1933, the Park adopted a slightly humanistic policy, taking a stance on limiting the unnecessary killing of predators in the Park, but it was too late; Humanity had successfully extinguished canis lupus along with its food sources and habitat from the west (Phillips 1996). (Canis rufus is the red wolf, which has been restored to the southwest since 1987). From the 1800's through the 1930's was a time of horrific destruction in the west. Between the United States Government and the newly formed National Park Service, predatory animals were slaughtered continuously. Even the urging of the President of the United States could not slow this thirst for dominance and desecration. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Yellowstone imploring the army to stop the killing, yet it went on relentlessly.

Times have changed. In 1972, thoughts of restoring the wolf to Yellowstone National Park, as part of its original biodiversity, began to circulate. In part, the new philosophy of wildlife management (verses wildlife destruction) came into being with the help of a man by the name of Dr. Starker Leopold, chairman of the Interior Secretary's Advisory Board. He authored a paper later to be known as the 'Leopold report', which stated "As a primary goal, we would recommend that the biotic associations within each park be maintained, or where necessary recreated." (Phillips 1996). This document began to outline the critical areas of preservation and helped to turn people's thoughts from consumption to conservation. There were many others before him who tried to warn people of the loss of our wild areas, such as John Muir, Aldo Leopold (who advocated the reintroduction of the wolf to Yellowstone as early as 1944), and a significant political force, Theodore Roosevelt, but it was not until the public began to realize that the environment was in terrible shape, and was not responding well to the continuing pattern of rape and pillage, that support for wolf restoration started to gain momentum.

The effort on Capital Hill started with Assistant Secretary Nat Reed organizing the first official meeting to discuss the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. Reports were needed to see if there were even any wolves still around. There had been reports of wolves making comebacks in northern areas at that time, such reports continue today particularly around Lake Superior (Savage 1996). Despite of hopes and fears that maybe there was a pack or two in the area, John Weaver, Biologist, found that in 1978 "the wolf niche appears essentially vacant. Therefore, [he] recommend restoring this native predator by introducing wolves to Yellowstone." (Phillips 1996). More people jumped on the bandwagon. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt as well as Agriculture Secretary Michael Espy rallied for an Environmental Impact Statement desperately needed before wolves could come to the Park. Proponents for the project were growing, but the opposition was strong; the Cattlemen's Association, local residents, and the 'all powerful' Farm Bureau filed injunctions and continued with tons of red tape. The Environmental Impact Statement was completed finally in 1991 and it was not until 1994 that the courts finally gave the OK. Even then appeals were filed to prevent the wolves from coming. Appeals were filed to prevent the wolves from being taken out of Canada, (which is where the first wolves were captured by aerial tranquilization). It was quite apparent that the local opposition was strong and for good reasons; they didn't want to lose livestock or children to wolves. Defenders of Wildlife came up with a solution: Reimbursement; cash for the animals proven to be killed by wolves. Defenders of Wildlife currently have over $100,0000 in reserve for rancher compensation (Savage 1996). Subsidizing ranchers' losses was a start, but education and local involvement was the only way this thing was ever going to get off the ground. The people who lived and worked in the area needed to be convinced that this project would not endanger their livelihoods or lifestyles. As re-education of wolf behavior began, other groups contributed to the reimbursement fund. Ed Bangs, coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf reintroduction program stated in 1995 that not only had Defenders of Wildlife contributed, but the Idaho Wolf Education and research Center as well as the Yellowstone Park Natural History Association had come forward with funds. Senate Appropriations Committee also had money for the Yellowstone wolf program, but Montana Senator Conrad Burns quickly diverted $200,000 towards the Montana trout disease study. Finally, after all the injunctions appeals, screams and hollers, the capture area was chosen, a certain number of animals identified for relocation, translocation arranged and acclimation pens built. In the early spring of 1995 the first wolves were placed in acclimation pens. Finally on March 21,1995, wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park (Phillips 1996). Continued opposition to the project along with poaching, since the wolf's reintroduction has made for a constant uphill battle. It is getting better, with the conviction of Chad McKittrick for poaching Alpha Male #10, (one of the first wolves in the area to sire pups) it is clear that the judicial system, as well public, is behind the efforts to continue the project.

Michael Phillips, Manager of the Yellowstone project is adamant about it's success. According to Phillips, who has been there from the beginning, the sheer number of people involved in this particular project demonstrates that there is some hope that old, incorrect, myths can be extinguished.

Senator Burns feels that there should not be wolves in Yellowstone. So do other people, but what is their reasoning behind this idea? Mostly fear and ignorance. These individuals fear a top predator as competition and their ignorance of the environment's complexities and needs have been more than proven by their mistakes of the past. Ranchers and hunters fear the wolf will reduce their stocks of cattle, sheep, deer, elk and whatever animal is useful to humanity. (What cattle and sheep do to the environment is far worse than any wolf invasion could ever do, but that is a whole different issue.) To address the hunter's fear, first find a wolf kill; then examine a bone or two. Crack it open and look at the marrow. Biologists can tell the age and health of the animal by this simple investigation. Almost every single kill examined from Minnesota through Idaho has shown the dead animal to have been either young, old, ill, or injured. So it is a fact that these predators have evolved with their prey to insure the health of the entire herd (Gibson 1996). Also, wolves, on the average, eat every two days if they are a successful hunting pack.

In another light, we, as a species, must preserve wolves in order to maintain the rich biodiversity that this planet needs to exist and continue its cyclic processes. Every extinction of a wolf species due to humans has been followed by a drastic impact on the natural prey of the wolf (Gibson 1996). Overpopulation followed by unrecoverable population crash is often the result. How much can we restore before we destroy what is still left?

Besides the necessary balance the wolf provides in the places it inhabits, what about its historical and mythological relevance? Many cultures identify with the wolf as a source of strength and empowerment (Estes). (Not all wolf myths have to do with a little red riding hood.) Prechristian mythology saw the wolf as deity of protection and knowledge. The Goddess Lilith was said to take the form of a great she-wolf when children or family were in danger. It was she, the great wolf who these people called upon when in need of safety (Estes). Many other legends and myths surround these magnificent creatures, they deserve the respect and protection given to other animals humans deem useful.

Whales were saved by people who often never saw one. The same reasoning should be applied with wolves. It is not necessary to put this species (plural) on display just for human enjoyment. Just knowing that a pack of wolves roams the beautiful mountains of Yellowstone National Park should be enough to justify their existence, after all they were there long before humanity, and their contribution to the environment is still immeasurable and a mystery.

"Canadian Activists Destroy Wolf traps." In Defense of Animals. Fall 1996. p. 16.

Estes, Clarissa Pinkola, Ph.D. Women Who Run With The Wolves. New York. Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. 1992.

Gibson, Nancy. Wolves. Stillwater, MN. Voyageur Press, Inc. 1996

Phillips, Michael K. & Douglas Smith. The Wolves of Yellowstone. Stillwater, MN. Voyageur Press, Inc. 1996.

Savage, Harlin. "Lake Superior's Wolf Comeback." Defenders of Wildlife. Fall 1996. p. 18-22.

Stevens, William K. "Triumph and Loss As Wolves Return to Yellowstone." The New York Times, September 12, 1995. 

Burns Cuts 40% of Yellowstone Wolf Program

http://www.poky.srv.net/~jimrm/burnscut.htm

Greater Yellowstone Area Biology

http://www.uwyo.edu/lib/ylwstndb/biology.htm

Greater Yellowstone Wolf Coalition Wolf Watch

http://www.iup.edu/~wolf/outing1.htmlx

Greater Yellowstone Observer: Wolves

http://www.intermarket.com/Yellowstone/wolfcont.htm

Man Convicted of Shooting Wolf Transplant

http://www.sdmart.com/files/librarywire/DN95_10_26/DN95_10_26_lc.html

Rocky Mountain Wolf Page

http://www.idahonews.com/wolf/wolfpage.htm

6th Wolf Found Dead In Yellowstone Park

http://www.sltrib.com/96/APR/16/twr/00160824.htm

The Total Yellowstone Page Wolf Report

http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wolf.htm

Untitled (Ralph Maughan)

http://home.mho.net/rburns/lobolink.htm

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