The long term effects of wiping out a species in the environment and natural habitats can have catastrophic and have unforeseen consequences for many generation s to come. One of the biggest things is the news now is all about honey bees and the effect that it will and has had on the world. The outcome being devastating on many levels from the honey to the pollination process that is essential to growth of plants, that can decimate the worlds food surplus from plants, animals, and humans, causing a world crisis. Wolves may not have the same impact as bees, but that’s because we may not see the danger in letting this species go extinct. There are “some” state and federal parks, mostly in Idaho, Wyoming , and Montana, who are try to get a …show more content…
The actual number of livestock that may have been killed by wolves was far less than what was to be expected. There was a documented loss of 256 sheep and 41 cattle between the years of 1995 through 2003. With the removal of an apex predator, the rise of lesser predators, and the balance between predator and prey becomes unstable. Cougars have become more territorial and have been known to encroach within city limits and have actually attacked livestock (Knickerbocker, 2008). Wolves are needed to keep the lesser predators in check. As stated before, it is feasible that sheep and other livestock may be safer with the wolves around to prey on coyotes. There is also some debate over whether wolves are even endangered to begin with. Wolves were removed from the endangered list in Montana and Idaho in 2009, and also in Wyoming in 2012. However in 2014, they were back on the endangered list in Wyoming (NPS, 2017). As recently as 2012, the wolf population in Wyoming was a total of 328 wolves, with 224 outside of Yellowstone Park (Jonsson, 2012). In order to be taken off the endangered list, there is a requirement of a minimum of 300 wolves and at least 30 breeding pairs over a three year period (NPS, 2017). The actual numbers of wolves is at the bare minimum to be considered for removal from the endangered species