Thirty years ago, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. Grey wolves had almost disappeared entirely throughout the northern Rockies. They were listed as endangered by the federal government since 1974. The reintroduction was hailed as a wildly successful effort yielding significant benefits to Yellowstone’s ecosystems.
Since then, wolf populations have increased greatly across the West. There are at least 7,000 or 8,000 wolves living in Western States. But this conservation triumph is considered a plague by some residents of those states. Wolves kill livestock, game animals, and sometimes pets.
Because of this backlash, federal protections have been lifted in some states, leaving wolf management up to state agencies. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and parts of Utah have no federal protections and hunting wolves is legal. Initial, careful hunting quotas in some states have given way to widespread killing driven by anti-wolf sentiment.
Emotions run high with regard to wolves, and unlike that of other protected species, the fate of wolves is a matter of politics rather than science or law. State legislatures have gotten involved, often trying to prove that they hate wolves more than the next guy.
Wolves are resilient animals and are likely to survive unless there is an organized government strategy like what took place in the 1900s with unlimited poisoning and shooting. But experts note that wolf populations must persist at a high enough level in order to play important ecological roles.
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As Wolf Populations Rebound, an Angry Backlash Intensifies
Photo, posted March 7, 2023, courtesy of Eric Kilby via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
