Reintroduction of Wolves Population - Research Paper Example

Reintroduction Reintroduction of wolves involves artificial reestablishment of wolves population in places where they have been threatened or extirpated. Reintroduction of wolves is considered in places where only large tracts of suitable wilderness such as Yellowstone national park and Montana still exist and where certain species of prey are in plenty enough to sustain and support a predetermined population of the wolves. The government eliminated wolves from Yellowstone National Park and North America over fifty years ago. They should be reintroduced because they would help region’s ecosystem, benefit tourism in the Park and increase overall population of wolves. I recommend that wolves be reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park. While there are some demerits in reintroducing the wolves, the merits far outweigh them. For decades, the native species of North America had been adjusting to the changes in the environment by self sustaining balance of prey, predator and supporting habitat. This ecosystem flourished for many ages without any interference or intervention on the part of humans (Busch, 2007). Yellowstone national park was build with the aim of preserving the wildlife and wilderness in North America. It was discovered by the State of Montana that wolves and other predators were destroying the ecosystem by killing too many game animals such as elk and Moose. There was plan to eliminate them from the area. Due to this, wolves were hunted and killed by wildlife personnel in 1914. The idea of eliminating wolves made them become endangered species which led to the plan to protect and reintroduce them in North America especially in Yellowstone National Park which had favorable habitat for their survival. The controversial reintroduction program has been successful in the sense that wolves are now back in Yellowstone National Park after an absence of more than 50 years. Scientists and biologists argued that since ecosystem had developed with natural predators, it was not stable without them. Therefore, the aftermath of this imbalance was over-grazing and habitat destruction. This led to formation of the reintroduction program to protect the endangered species. For instance, the reintroduction of Grey wolves in the Yellowstone National Park started in the year 1995 when wolves were regarded as ‘non-essential, experimental’ population according to article 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act. In addition, this clarification authorized government officials to deal with the problems that wolves posed to the society and it was regarded as series of consensus or compromises of wolf reintroduction pioneers made with the local ranchers and livestock farmers (9news.com). Environmental groups and local industries battled for many years over the Idaho and Yellowstone program of wolf reintroduction efforts. It is important to note that the concept of wolf reintroduction was first presented in the congress in 1966 by a group of biologists who were weary of the high population of elk in Idaho and Yellowstone areas. It can be said that in1926, it was the last year that wolves were officially killed in Yellowstone area and over the succeeding years, the elk population and other prey animals had tremendously increased thus, posing a threat to new growth vegetation (Philips et al, 1996). This was as a result of removal of key predators in the area. The wolves were on top of the food pyramid but their absence gave the elk population a fertile ground to boom out of control. In the coming year’s species of riparian and aspen cottonwood crashed because of overgrazing. This in turn, affected habitat of other species. Despite the dangers posed to the ecosystem by the absence of wolves, livestock farmers and ranchers were still opposed to the reintroduction of wolves in the area citing problems that wolves will bring to their livestock. Yellowstone National Park is the national park in the U.S where many people visit every year. Conservationists, biologists and local business owners gathered in Yellowstone national park with other great personalities to commemorate 10 years of wolf reintroduction program. In the year 2005, wolves were hunted and captured in Canada and brought into Yellowstone national park by defenders of wildlife service personnel with the main of trying to restore balance to a landscape where wolves’ presence has been missing for a long time. I think the wolves have done well and reproduced at a high rate. In this park, wolves prey on variety of species particularly the elk of the Yellowstone Park but will in some cases pursue deer, sheep, bear and other animals (Anderson, 2012). Wolves in Northern Rockies have been a conservation success since 1995. The original Yellowstone wolves, wolves in Northern Idaho and other 20 wolves released in the Northern Rockies in 1996 have tremendously increased in numbers each year thus expanding their range into places where habitat and prey could favor or support them. Currently, more than 800 wolves exist in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. It has taken Yellowstone National Park 21 years of strategizing and planning to get wolves on the ground. This has been a conservative move pioneered by Yellowstone management since the population of wolves has been on the decrease. Despite this reintroduction, ranchers expressed their fears that wolves would kill their sheep and cattle. Wolves would feed on livestock if the prey they feed on gets exhausted or it is possible that they might attack get out of the Park and kill livestock in the area (Smith et al, 2005). In order to justify the seriousness of the reintroduction program, defenders of wildlife conservation team established the Bailey wildlife foundation wolf compensation fund that would be used to pay ranchers and other livestock owners the market prices for proven losses to wolves. The reintroduction program was meant to rescue the wolves because these animals are considered endangered and are at risk of extinction if not protected. The government of the United Sates under President Bush once announced that it was planning to kill the wolves that it had initially spend millions of dollars to reintroduce. The government believed that the wolves were adversely affecting the elk in Wyoming despite the fact that the numbers of elk in the area are always high (Mech, 2003). The State of Idaho rubbished this move by the government as crazy and misdirected and instead intended to manage wolves at reasonable level. They filed a legal suit in court seeking to block government plans to hunt and kill wolves. Reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park has received is a success story because this program has measurably improved the ecosystem or the natural balance in the Northern Rockies and benefited elk, birds and antelope population in the area. It has also contributed greatly to the economy in that many visitors flock Yellowstone national park each year to see wolves and as a result, they manage to raise $ 35 million to the economy. Wolves are the main source of attraction at Yellowstone National Park. Conservation groups supported the reintroduction program stating that wolves were decreasing given the fact that their genetic and geographic spread has not increased enough to guarantee their long term survival (9news.com). Before the reintroduction program, biologists had predicted that losses to wolves would not be great. In addition, defenders of wildlife introduced projects that helped reduce conflicts with wolves including measures such as introduction of livestock protection dogs, aerial monitoring, alternative grazing lands, alarm systems, voluntary grazing allotment retirements and range riders. Grey wolves were reintroduced in the Yellowstone National Park some ten years ago. At that time, there were few wolves in the Park but with the reintroduction program, the numbers have been increasing tremendously as wolves continues to amaze biologists with a ripple of indirect and direct results in the entire ecosystem. The wolves were causing depletion of deer, elk and moose. Thus, it was in order to hunt and kill wolves so as to eliminate the danger they posed. However, conservation groups have proven that the numbers of elk are particularly high and not threatened in way as the government claimed. Thousands of gray wolves that used to roam in Rocky Mountains have been killed and eliminated in 1930s (Rappaport Clark, 2012). This move led to listing of gray wolves as endangered species since they were about to be extinct were it not for the reintroduction program. In the year 2000, wildlife and Fish group announced that the objective of 30 breeding pairs of gray wolves in Yellowstone had been met. From this information, it was said that the population of wolf was recovered under the endangered species act. In 2009, there were plans to de-list wolves which led to the killing of 258 wolves in Montana. U.S fish and wildlife group sued the federal government leading to protections being instituted again with a move to guard and restore wolves in the area. The question that people paused when the reintroduction program was started is that how will people and wolves coexist. For many people, they would be against the program supposedly being the ranchers and livestock farmers who are trying to guard their animals and livelihood from an increasing threat from wolves. In addition, the hunters would oppose the move to reintroduce the wolves since they focused on extending their hunting strips. On the other hand, the pro wolf advocates primarily consisted of wild life people who feared that wolves are not guarded by the federal government and that at the end; they would be mismanaged, hunted and eliminated once again. Scientists working in Yellowstone National Park have for recent years claimed that wolves have rapidly increased and that there was need for them to be managed again by local strategies or programs and not the federal government. They argue that if they continue to be guarded under the endangered species act, the aftermath would be human and wolf conflict continuing to increase (9news.Com). Their point of agreement with wildlife conservatives is that wolves have little impact on elk population. They argue that the numbers of elk have not been affected or reduced but, rather, migration patterns of elk are changing as they try to escape and avoid areas populated by the wolves. In addition, they rubbish the ideas of the possibility of the emergence of bigger and more aggressive wolves. Protection programs should be put in place in order to manage wolf population (9news.com). Despite the fact that wolves have been endangered species in Northern America, their reintroduction has caused a lot of problems to Yellowstone National park and its environs. When wolves were absent in the area, willows used to roar and roam freely in the park, but when reintroduction program was introduced, these animals have been absent from vicinity. This shows how reintroduction of wolves back in the Park changed the ecology of the area. In addition, they have scared the elk from moving freely in the area making them hide by the riversides. More so, wolves have caused a terrible cascade in that they have altered the conditions for everything including willows. For the last ten years, biologists, scientist and other environmental team have written much information about wolf biology. These people have been surprised by the changes they witnessed since it is not easy to understand fully how the influence or effect of an apex predator ripple through ecosystem. Much of what they have seen is a result of wolf reintroduction. It has been projected that in the coming ten years, the population of the elk would have dropped significantly because one of the largest herds of elk which eats or feed on rich grasses in Yellowstone National park dropped from about 19000 in the year 1994 to 11000. Scientists and other researchers have argued that the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park have adversely affected the park (Lindell, 2012). They claim that the wolves in the absence of hard winters are the main reason for the death of elk. Before the reintroduction program was adopted, the snow in the park was the major determined whether elk were going to survive or die. The combination of both snow and wolves in the park benefited scavengers such as ravens and grizzly bears. The ecosystem has changed with the emergence of wolves in that instead of boom and bust cycle in the area, the availability of things such as carrion which existed before the wolves and when winters were harder, there is now equal distribution of carrion throughout early spring and winter. During this time, the scavengers that only depended on winter killed elk for their food now heavily relied on wolf killed animals for food. The reintroduction of wolf has been termed by some people as culprit hunters. Biologists today argue that wolf predation has been significant enough to make the elk animals to distribute evenly in the area; this in turn has affected the vegetation and different species of wildlife (Lindell, 2012). The last time the elk saw the wolves was in 1920s but with their reintroduction in the park in the last years, the elk have changed their survival tactics by being more vigilant. They move more than they used to do initially and that they do not spend their time in areas where they do not feel secure. They prefer places near a hill or bluff where they could hide from the wolves. Despite the wolves being a threat to the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park, they have played a significant role in changing the area. For instance, it is believed with the reintroduction of wolves, the coyotes and cottonwoods have returned, they are now in a position to perform distinct roles in that they stabilize the banks of rivers and offer shade, which reduces or lowers water temperature thus making the habitat good for trout and hence, leading to breeding of fish. Additionally, the number of wolves in the Yellowstone National Park has increased the amount of meat that benefits other species thus ensuring their survival in the park. For instance, Grizzlies rarely harm or kill adult elk, but after the wolves kill an elk after some days, other carnivores comes to eat the carcass. The wolves again in the Yellowstone national are not safe because they are hunted and killed by hunters. In addition, the dogs that people bring in the park carry dangerous poison which kills the wolves (Smith et al, 2005). Summarily, it can be concluded that the reintroduction program has helped in ensuring that the rare species of wolf did not get extinct. This program has helped in restoring wolves back to the landscape. Despite the benefits of wolf reintroduction program, ranchers and livestock farmers expressed their fear that the reintroduction of wolves was a threat to their livestock in that wolves could easily kill their cattle or sheep. But there has been agreement between ranchers and defenders of wildlife who work hand in hand to ensure that their livestock is safe. The collaborative nature of these two groups has seen increased efforts in reducing conflicts and building incentives for such collaborative program. For instance, some hunters feared that wolves would totally kill the elk and deer, while others agreed that it was rational to save these natural predators. The reintroduction program has seen the growth in numbers of tourists who visit Yellowstone national park each year to see the wolf that was protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This Act of 1973 offered a basis for legal structure and financing for the wolves to be restored in North America. Therefore, the success of reintroduction of wolves in Northern America has seen reaffirmed the value and purpose of endangered species Act as safety mechanism for wildlife. In order for the wolf to be well protected, there is need to develop local program which would manage them. Some of the wolf management activities include several hazing events, site closures or fencing and removal of food conditioned wolf. Works Cited Busch, Robert H. The Wolf Almanac a Celebration of Wolves and Their World. Guilford, CT: Lyons, 2007. Print. Lindell, John. "The Fear of Wolves: A Review of Wolf Attacks on Humans." Lcie.org. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Jan. 2002. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. Mech, David L. Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2003. Print. Rappaport Clark, Jamie. “Gray Wolf.” Defenders.org. Defenders of Wildlife, 2012. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. Robb, Bob. "6 Reasons We Should Kill Wolves." Petersenhunting.com. 02 Nov. 2011. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. Print. Wolves."9news.com. 20 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. Phillips, Michael K., Douglas W. Smith, Teri O'Neill, and Barry O'Neill. The Wolves of Yellowstone. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur, 1996. Print. Smith, Douglas W., and Gary, Ferguson. Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone. Guilford, CT: Lyons, 2005. Print. 10 Years of Yellowstone Wolves. Nps.gov. Ed. Roger J. Anderson. Yellowstone Science, 2005. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. . Read More