The comeback of the gray wolf is one of America's most significant wildlife conservation achievements.
The wolf has long carried the inaccurate image of the big, bad wolf from
"Little Red Riding Hood". We have hunted wolves mercilessly, to the brink of extinction, and have destroyed the large wild areas and habitats it needs to survive. Once numbering over 1 million in North America, today less than 3,000 survive in the lower 48 states. Removing this top predator from the food chain has been felt in exploding elk and fox populations, in decimated grassy habitats, and in bottom-heavy ecosystems lacking a normal predator-prey balance.
For many years re-balancing these ecosystems through wolf reintroduction has been a gleam in the eyes of wildlife biologists and environmentalists. Through the efforts of conservation organizations such as
Defenders of Wildlife and many committed individuals, great strides have been made recently in returning the magnificent species to lands where they once roamed freely. The wolf reintroduction program begun in Yellowstone National Park in January 1995 has been successful beyond the wildest dreams of its originators. 66 animals originally introduced to Montana and Idaho via airlifts from Canada have multiplied to 165 - 90 in Yellowstone and 75 in Idaho.
Elated with the results, biologists have begun considering other areas for wolf reintroduction - northern Maine, Washington's Olympic peninsula, and especially New York State's 6-million acre Adirondack Park, set aside as "forever wild" in 1892.
Mission: Wolf is a group that works to rehabilitate our understanding of wolves, educate us about their importance to the balance of nature, and dispel any thoughts that these animals are "pets". Their Colorado sanctuary is year-round home to over 50 wolves that are not capable of living in the wild. Traveling with ambassador wolves on a converted school bus, they bring a message of respect for all things wild and free. Their philosophy? That the eyes of a wolf, looking into yours, can relate this message louder and stronger than words ever will.
In 1996 and 1997, with the help of the education department of the
Pittsburgh Zoo, we hosted Mission: Wolf for school and public programs that reached over 2500 people in Western Pennsylvania.
In December of 1997, A federal judge in Wyoming declared that the wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone, because it potentially adversely affected existing native wolf populations, was illegal. He ordered the reintroduced wolves "removed", however stayed his decision based on expected appeals. Opposition to the wolves comes primarily from sheep and cattle ranchers and is spearheaded by the
American Farm Bureau. As 1998 begins, there's also a proposal on the table from the Clinton administration to ban all road-building within national forests, a step that would be a tremendous boon to wolf habitat protection.
So the battle over the fate of wolves continues. Some of us see them as symbols of nature and the wild heritage inside our own selves, while others see them as trespassers on private property and symbols of nature left uncontrolled. Contact your
elected representatives about the issue, write to your
local newspaper, or let the American Farm Bureau know how you feel about their efforts to overturn the wolf recovery project. Your voice is important!
Related Web Sites:
The Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone, by Thomas McNamee. Henry Holt & Co., 1997 -
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