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The Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf into Yellowstone

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Title: The Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf into Yellowstone


1
The Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf into
Yellowstone
  • A Presentation by
  • Alexander Chidester
  • Amanda Gauker
  • Christopher Glime
  • Erik Shilts

2
Background Information
  • 1914 Grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park
    are viewed as a nuisance and killed off by
    government paid bounty hunters sent to help
    farmers and ranchers exterminate them.
  • 1996 The Wolf Recovery is started and 35 gray
    wolves from Canada are reintroduced to Yellowstone

3
Background Information
4
Background Information
  • By 2002, 14 new wolf packs are sighted within the
    park, in addition to several other wolf packs
    outside the park
  • There are approximately 271 wolves within
    Yellowstone National Park today.
  • The gray wolf still faces opposition from farmers
    and ranchers.
  • Wolves are tracked accurately using radio collars.

5
Why are wolves important in Yellowstone?
  • The gray wolf was the only known missing animal
    from a national park. The restoration of the wolf
    into the national park system is a landmark in
    ecological restoration.
  • Wolves fill a very important role at the top of
    the food chain that was left vacant with their
    absence.
  • With continued success, the gray wolf will be
    removed from the endangered species list.

6
The Debate
  • Should the wolves have been reintroduced?
  • Public perception of the wolf has changed over
    the years, but the wolf still faces much
    opposition from farmers and ranchers near the
    park.
  • Studies have shown the reintroduction program to
    very successful in restoring the ecosystem of the
    park.

7
The Debate
  • After an absence of wolves for more than 60
    years, it became evident to researchers that
    something was wrong with the ecosystem in
    Yellowstone. It was determined that it could not
    function properly until the wolves were returned.
  • The reintroduction program faced much opposition
    and was the cause of many debates, but its
    success has been clear.
  • Wolves helped restore Yellowstone's ecosystem to
    a stable condition that resembles the way it used
    to function.

8
Supporting Evidence
  • The presence or absence of wolves in an area has
    affects on many biological factors.
  • Yellowstone National Park is one of the last
    ecosystems with a full compliment of pre-European
    settlement species.
  • Killing off the dominant predator species
    destroys the ecosystem integrity.
  • This affect was studied by Estes (1996) and
    McLaren (1994) by documenting ecosystem changes
    in Isle Royal, Michigan.

9
Supporting Evidence
  • The declining wolf population allowed moose to
    grow in population size, putting extra strain on
    balsam fir, a main component of a moose's diet.
  • The balsam fir declined from 46 of the
    over-story in Isle Royal in 1848 to less than 5
    in 1994.
  • Similar studies in Yellowstone showed a
    connection between gray wolves, elk and aspen
    trees.
  • Replacement of aspen trees in the over-story
    ceased in the same years that the wolves were
    eliminated from Yellowstone.

10
Conclusion
  • Ecosystem An ecological community together with
    its environment, functioning as a unit.
  • No one species may be removed without hurting the
    entire ecosystem.
  • The gray wolves play an especially vital part of
    the Yellowstone ecosystem by regulating the
    populations of the large herbivores.
  • It is essential that the public be educated on
    these issues of ecosystem interdependence.
  • Hunters and ranchers must be stopped from killing
    gray wolves and the wolf must be allowed to grow
    to its population size of old.

11
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