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Summary: Reintroduction Of Wolves In Yellowstone National Park

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Recommended: Reflection on the three kinds of environmental ethics

Brandon McHugh
August 13, 2015
Environmental Ethics
Reintroduction of Wolves in Yellowstone National Park

Environments today that we consider as “natural” or “wilderness” are not particularly wild or natural. The areas of land that have unmanaged ecosystems, where humans are not allowed to disturb, are places that the government set boundaries, named, and created regulations for. A society as advanced as the humans on earth must have areas of wilderness regulated by the government. Fortunately, humans have governments that will manage our areas of natural wilderness. Considering Glen Cole’s statement in ‘A New Environmental Ethics’ on Yellowstone National Park, “The primary purpose of Yellowstone National Park is to preserve natural ecosystems …show more content…

This final result of the wipeout of wolves was directly related to Congress granting funds to kill off remaining wolf populations in fear of their primary food source like elk and moose being eliminated. Farmers were also in great support of getting rid of the wolves, as they would often kill livestock affecting farmer’s livelihood. With the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, there was hope for the reintroduction of the wolf. However, residents of the surrounding areas of the park felt as though the wolf only brings destruction wherever it goes. Nonetheless, in 1974 the Department of Interior and the USFW appointed a wolf recovery team to implement a plan to eventually recover the once thriving wolf …show more content…

Without wolves, elk and deer populations rise too high and they over consume vegetation. This increases erosion on riverbanks, increasing turbidity in river waters and decreasing overall productivity. Also, in the winter months, elk and other large omnivores are not feeding regularly enough, and usually die of starvation or disease and other creatures, wasting fuel for food web, do not consume their remains quickly enough. The introduction of wolves is essential to bringing back the ecosystem to a healthy flow. Wolves eating habits are much more irregular than other primary predators, in that they can only consume about 20 pounds of meat before having to lie down. Between November and May, wolves provide about 29,000 pounds of meat to forest scavengers while humans leave 73,000 pounds just from January to mid February. It is clear that humans leave larger amounts of meat in a much shorter period of time. This makes it so most of the meat that is possible for left over animals to eat goes bad for scavengers, while wolf kill remains can consume the leftovers. This enables scavenger animals to feed on leftover remains, creating a healthier middle part of the food chain. Wolves also help maintain the most fit and robust elk populations as they feed on the weaker and smaller specimens. Douglas

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There is an estimated 60,000 wolves in Canada. Farley Mowat studies the grey wolf in his book Never Cry Wolf (1963). Throughout the book, Mowat uses the rhetorical strategies pathos, logos, and personification to disprove the misconception about wolves. The book is about a scientist (Farley Mowat) that flies into the Canadian Barrens in order to research wolves. His goal is to prove that wolves are killing thousands of caribou for sport, but he find that the wolves are not to blame for the decrease in caribou populations.

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Wolves like to hunt in packs, or groups, and utilize teamwork to get their meals. With the right amount of wolves hunting together, catching their prey will be effective and efficient. For hunting and capturing prey, the ideal wolf pack size is approximately eleven to twelve wolves. In the wolf group size graph, when hunting and capturing Elk vs. Bison, the percentage of successes reached its peak at around 40%.

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Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat is a non-fiction story about naturalist Farley Mowat, on an expedition to find out why so many caribou were being killed. Mowat’s superiors believed that wolves were killing the caribou. He spent almost a year investigating the wolves’ way of life focusing on a small pack made up of two males and a female with her pups. Mowat camped near their den and observed their eating and hunting habits. He observed that wolves rarely ate caribou and when they did, it was the weak and sick ones.

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Supporters in favor of wolf reintroduction into the wild because of the positive aspects that they recognized from their point of views, regardless of profits and interest they achieved. For example, Yellowstone Park who have made enormous profits by dint to the return of wolves. However, the most important advantages that achieved by the presence of wolves in the wild are attracting many people from many different places to see those wolves. This is in turn that helps to promote tourism in the country.

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He argues that wolves are not only essential to the natural world but that their restoration to their natural habitats is critical for the health and integrity of ecosystems. Middleton uses evocative language and vivid imagery to convey the beauty and importance of wolves, such as when he describes them as "majestic predators that inspire awe and wonder in the human heart". His tone is also in frustration with those who view wolves as a nuisance or threat, as he argues that such attitudes are misguided and based on fear rather than fact. Overall, Middleton's tone is one of urgency and conviction, as he seeks to rally support for the restoration and protection of wolves as a vital part of the American

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Before wolves were reintroduced, they had been absent for 17 years, the number of deer built up and up despite man’s attempt to bring the population down. Because there were too many deer, they were thinning the forest. When the wolves were released into Yellow Stone they began killing the deer, because of this the deer’s behavior began to change cause them to avoid certain parts of the forest. Life began to flourish, the trees begun growing and because of this the birds returned as well as the beavers. Also, the wolves began to kill coyotes which allowed rabbits and mice populations to grow again.

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