"The reintroduction of endangered wolves to Yellowstone National Park 30 years ago was a major conservation victory. But as wolves have spread across the West, anger and resentment at the apex predator has escalated, with hunters in some states increasingly targeting them."
"Next month will mark the 30th anniversary of a landmark wildlife experiment: the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. The gray wolf had been nearly extirpated throughout the northern Rockies and had been federally listed as endangered since 1974.
Diane Boyd, a wildlife biologist who had started collaring and tracking wolves that entered northern Montana from Canada in 1979, supported the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s broader reintroduction effort in the West over the last 30 years. “The return of wolves has been wildly successful beyond all expectations,” she says today. “It’s amazing.”
Thanks to reintroduction efforts and protections of the federal Endangered Species Act, which forbids any killing of the animal, wolves are now abundant across the West. They number roughly 3,000 and are now living not just in the Northern Rockies, but in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and among the giant sequoia groves of California.
But what some consider a triumph, others consider a plague. In the Rockies, wolves kill livestock, prized game animals, including elk and deer, and sometimes pets. As their populations have increased, wolves have incurred the wrath of ranchers, hunters, and others in rural areas. In response to the backlash, federal protections have been lifted in some states, leaving wolf management up to state agencies."
Jim Robbins reports for Yale Environment 360 December 12, 2024.
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