Reintroducing Wolves into National Parks Could Restore Ecosystems
Courtesy of the National Park Service
In a landscape empty of a critical carnivore, parts of Yellowstone National Park became denuded, its greenery eaten by elk, its biodiversity diminished. Then in 1995, wildlife managers reintroduced gray wolves to restore the population and found that their presence actually benefited the environment around them. Successful examples like that are the basis for a new paper in BioScience in which the authors propose that national park officials reintroduce managed wolf packs on conserved land in order to restore damaged habitats.
"The pros, the benefits, would far outweigh the negatives," says lead author Daniel Licht, a wildlife biologist with the National Park Service. “We have these ecosystems that are in dire need of wolves, and we think that the debate now should say, 'Consider reintroducing wolves even when the population is not viable or self-sustaining.'”
Wolves eat ungulates like elk and deer, reducing their numbers. The mere existence of wolves in the same ecosystem also creates what biologists call an “ecology of fear,” so ungulates spend less time eating in one place. As a result, trees and shrubs come back and there’s more biodiversity. In Yellowstone, researchers saw that open fields became more vegetated when they reintroduced wolves. Wolves also increase biodiversity by providing food for scavengers and influencing the way that coyotes behave.
The benefits aren’t limited to the environment. “Wolves in Yellowstone National Park increased visitation and ecotourism spending by $35 million in 2005,” Licht and his four co-authors write in the paper. Having the predators in the park could make visitors more appreciative of the wild environs and give them a thrill when they hear a howl or see another wolf sign.
The populations wouldn’t be self-sustaining, they say, and could be managed with GPS, contraception, and surgery—a potentially less expensive and energy intensive alternative to ungulate fertility control. People overseeing the project could erect fences, eliminating predation on livestock and animals, and protecting people.
Yet wolf reintroduction and protection remains a polarizing issue, despite the fact that biologically predators are a vital part of a healthy, natural ecosystem. “We need to go through the planning process and look at the alternatives and weigh all of the pros and cons,” says Licht. “Every place is going to be different, but we think this concept warrants more serious discussion than it’s been given in the past.”
If someone had mentioned reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone 50 years ago, he wouldn’t have been taken seriously, says Licht. Now that wildlife biologists know how wolves benefit the environment and the public, reintroducing them in more national parks could be the next step for ecosystem management, write the authors. “While the use of wolves for ecosystem restoration and stewardship on small natural areas will not be a panacea, it will move all of these areas closer to true and meaningful biodiversity conservation.”
wolves
Reintroducing wolves to Yellow Stone is one thing. I'm all for restoring the entire natural food chain and using hunting as a conservation tool. I live in Wisconsin, and have to question just what the hell is The Humane Society of the United States think they're doing by fighting to keep the wolves on the endangered species list, out of individual state's control? Do you idiots really think you are saving the wolves?
What you are doing is making sure the wolves will have no future and way to survive in Wisconsin. THIS IS NOT YELLOW STONE! Would you folks from Yellow Stone area please tell these idiots what wolves eat! Then take inventory in Wisconsin, what's here for wolves to eat? Deer and small game, that's all we have. This year in northern Wisconsin we have the largest number of wolves in over 200 years, we also have the largest number of black bears seen here in over 200 years. We have 160 elk, might as well be 0, and 10 years ago we had the largest number of white tail deer ever and our forest was dying because of it. DNR went to reduce the deer number, so did bears and wolves and now we've got the fewest number of deer up there in 200 years. When the deer are gone, what will the wolves and bears eat?
The bears and wolves will move south. No where else to go. They will feed on deer, small game and domestic animals, no other choices. I will add that they will also follow the deer right into the cities. No choices. Wipe out the deer and wolves will be public enemy number 1 again, history repeated, Wisconsin starts all over restoring big game .
You idiots who SAVED the wolves now need to FEED the wolves and restore the north woods food chain BEFORE it's too late! Only IF we can establish a working food chain up north can we guarantee the long term survival of big game predators like the wolf and bear.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Wisconsin DNR have been working to restore elk since 1995. Thanks to the WI Dept of Ag, our study herd is still a study herd, not a reintroduction herd. 160 elk we have won't feed 30,000 bears or 1000+ wolves for very long, they need your support.
Wisconsin DNR also has a bison herd. ...locked up behind fences, being sold to farmers, we have 0 bison in the wild! YES bison and elk are native to WI and what's needed to feed wolves and bears. Also missing from the WI natural native food chain are caribou and moose. As we saw wolves return 20 years ago, we're seeing cougars now making an appearance. Another missing native we shamefully can NOT FEED!
The US economy is in the tank. Northern Wisconsin's economy was in the tank long before the rest of the US. Our north woods has been reduced to a big tree farm, our wildlife reduced to a petting zoo. We've destroyed all of our natural renewable resources in trade for lumber, paper and deer. Lumber isn't doing real good, we're entering the paperless age, our deer hunting economy is failing. We've beat the land into submission to become America's Dairyland and have completely forgotten and ignored what this land was designed to produce, and are fooled into thinking cows are more important and profitable than a working natural food chain. We've traded away elk, bison, caribou, moose, deer, bears, wolves, cougars, millions of birds and waterfowl, the list goes on and on. We've restored turkeys, Eagles Cranes, deer,....but we can't pick and choose, the chain only works as a group.
We can not manage our wildlife, our deer and our bears, with out also managing the wolves. We've got habitat and food for 500 wolves, we are way past that now and our DNR's hands are tied thanks to HSUS using the wolves for political biological warfare to end hunting. By keeping the wolves on he Endangered species list, they are endangering our deer population, bear population, small game and forcing bears and wolves into habitat not fit for them. They do not care that they are endangering the wolf's survival, they do not care about the wolves, they just want the wolves to do as much damage as they can. If this wasn't true, they'd be helping move problem wolves, they'd be restoring habitat and fighting to get our elk herd on it's feet, they'd want the wolves number 1 food source, the bison, back in the wild. They've done nothing more than help the wolf tie its own noose!
Unlike the wolves, bears and now cougars, elk, bison, caribou and moose aren't just going to show up and restore themselves. Our Dept of ag want elk and bison to be domestic animals, we've got thousands of domestic elk and bison in WI and yet only 160 wild elk? 0 bison? Maybe a dozen moose, 0 caribou. How sad. Wake up people, Wild life doesn't require heavy equipment, fossil fuels, fertilizers or pesticides. Restore the north woods and farmers in central and southern Wisconsin will have new options, increase the lands potential, slow down urban sprawl, our kids can have a future, hunting and tourism will boost and stabilize our economy...or we can keep on the path we are on and leave our kids with this mess. I say we need to plant the seeds for our kids futures right now so they have something to pay off this debt we're leaving them. In Wisconsin, we need those elk and we need them now! and that WI DNR Bison herd? They need to become a test herd, they don't belong behind fences and our DNR shouldn't be in the Domstic animal business. Let them go, lets see how they do... What do we have to loose?
GREENIE NUTJOBS
Damn envirnomentalist fruitcakes are the same ones that are responsible for the deer herd decimation in Pennsylvania. Blame deer for everything and put a extreme deer plan in place. These environmentalist extremists can go to hell as far as im concerned.
i love environmentalist and
i love environmentalist and wolves can suck my cock
Wolves are a natural part of
Wolves are a natural part of the ecosystem and should be protected and returned to those areas which they were native.
They are an apex predator and can help with deer population problems such as those found in the Eastern United states. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and others.
wolves suck
wolves suck