The Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf into Yellowstone

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The Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf into
Yellowstone

• A Presentation by
• Alexander Chidester
• Amanda Gauker
• Christopher Glime
• Erik Shilts

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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

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Background Information
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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