Wolf Extinction Essay

Reintroduction of Wolves to Yellowstone Reintroduction is defined as the act or attempt to bring back a species to its known niche after being threatened to near extinction (Howard and Somers 2009). This was the case for the gray wolf population in Yellowstone National Park, as well as throughout most of the U.S. The gray wolves at one point occupied the U.S. in large numbers, but when settlers came to America, a conflict between the wolves and the settlers became apparent. The conflict was that farmers and settlers needed the land in which the wolves inhabited. Farmers were also afraid of wolves attacking their livestock. At a time when humans did not understand the importance of ecology, and minimal value was placed on nature and the environment, the only reasonable solution was to kill the wolves to the point of near
Nonetheless, after decades of controversy, a plan was put into effect that would reintroduce the wolves to the park. The restoration program began in 1995 in which 14 wolves were translocated from Canada to the U.S. in January 1995 and 17 in January of 1996 (Phillips and Smith 1997). When the wolves arrived at the park, they were fed elk, bison, roadkill and other livestock. Scientists later created three wolf packs that consisted of a male dominant and female dominant wolf along with other non-dominant wolves. Eventually, in two of the three packs, pups were born. To allow time for the wolves to adjust to their new environment, they were released into the wild within three months after being captured; this was known as soft release. An alternate method of released known as hard release was done in Idaho in which the wolves were not placed in family groups and taken care of, but rather released into the wild a few days after being