The Big, Bad Wolf

"Truth is violated by falsehood, but it is outraged by silence." —Henri Fredric Amiel (qtd. in Balyeat)

The recent reintroduction of the gray wolf into selected regions of the northern United States has renewed the debate of whether Canis lupis is a vicious and relentless killer or merely a misunderstood and under appreciated cog in the ecological machine. Twenty-one years after the passing of the Endangered Species Act, three packs of gray wolves were released into the expansive wilds of Yellowstone National Park, despite outspoken protests from residents and ranchers in the area. As the years have passed, the concerns of the locals have proven to be justified because of a number of incidents involving the animals which pose financial and safety hazards. Therefore, I support the removal and relocation of these wild predators from populated areas.

Despite its rugged image, the American west as we know it is a manufactured and unnatural product of our federal government. During the surge westward, indigenous people and wildlife were eradicated in order to make way for the European pioneers that flooded the continent in search of the American dream of peace and prosperity. In an effort to increase its financial strength, subsidies were offered to people with a willingness to place themselves in harms way and a desire to cultivate the unsettled wilderness. The primary threat to this daunting venture was the deadly gray wolf, whose regional numbers approached 120,000 members in the late nineteenth-century. This large and feral carnivore was a nuisance that stalked settlers and preyed upon livestock, creating safety concerns and affecting the financial productivity of the new inhabitants. A coordinated effort, the kind envisioned by our founding fathers, was sponsored by the American government to eradicate the wolf epidemic. Our nation employed a number of professional trappers and bounties were paid to settlers for wolf pelts that garnered an average of $1.00 a piece, which was a handsome reward during that period. Bill Caywood, the most famous wolf hunter, was referred to in a 1939 issue of Outdoor Life as being "so good at his job that there's almost no job left" (qtd. in Jones). As the 1930's came to a close, over two million wolves had been eliminated from the continental United States, creating a safe haven for people to raise their children, conduct business, and savor the fruits of their labor.

After the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, misguided public interest in the lupines was reawakened in this country. Upon signing the new policy into law, President Richard Nixon said, "The notion that the only good predator is a dead one is no longer acceptable" (qtd. in Jennings). The gray wolf was among the first species listed, along with carnivores like the bald eagle, California condor, and grizzly bear. Conservation groups argued that the colonization of the west had been too destructive to the natural order, and urged the government to make environmental reparations. Not long afterwards, a plan was proposed to bring the missing species back from the brink of extinction. Concerned locals and the livestock industry fought the proposal every step of the way because of the incalculable risks inherent in reintroducing the top link in the food chain. Twenty years of political disorder later, sixty-six healthy wolves were captured in the Canadian wilderness with the intention of turning them loose in our most revered national park. The northern trappers who were working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service warned of the consequences risked by the project. They explained that wolves would "breed rapidly, prey on deer and elk, and attack livestock" (qtd. in Jennings). Despite strong protests, the US Department of The Interior began to release wolves into the expansive and pristine wilderness of Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park. Within one week of their release, an Idaho newspaper reported that a wolf had been killed while feeding upon a privately owned newborn calf. Scientific analysis shows that a 30-calf-to-100-adult ratio is needed just to keep a cow or elk herd viable. Two years after the project began a study by biologist Carrie Shafer revealed that Yellowstone calf ratios had precipitously dropped from 46 calves per 100, down to less than 10 per 100 herd members (Balyeat)!

It is obvious that the presence of this predator is quite detrimental to the environment and supports the need to remove the wolves, which are not and have never been an endangered species! Although eliminated from populous areas, over sixty thousand wolves roam the Canadian wilderness today. Game hunters can freely go to the province of Ontario, Canada and purchase a $50.00 hunting license that allows them to bag an unlimited number of wolves. In fact, wolves are still quite abundant in the state of Alaska as well. A public take of fifteen hundred wolves per year in our northernmost territory is met with little or no protest, because of the rate at which the animals mature and reproduce. Recent data available from the Department of the Interior reveals that the canine population increases 34% annually, even while being liberally hunted, and with over three hundred wolves currently in Wyoming, that mathematically projects to a one-thousand percent increase over an eight year period! Because wolves are roaming creatures with no regard for borders, it is imperative that action be taken quickly to isolate this looming menace, before they become uncontrollable.

Advocates of the reintroduction plan say that wolves are needed to restore the natural balance in the state, while opponents believe that there are other measures that people can take to bring the herbivorous population down to reasonable levels which do not include reintroducing a ruthless and cunning predator. A popular recommendation is to increase the annual hunting seasons, as it is true that the elk populace has grown quite large, it is also true that wolves do not prey exclusively upon them. There have been numerous reports of predation on livestock and backyard pets, including the disturbing trend of cannibalism. Department of Natural Resources wildlife specialist Bill Peterson recently noted that "One fellow came home from work to find three wolves eating his dog in the middle of the road, in the middle of the day" (qtd. in Krak). A prime directive of the Endangered Species Act says that wolves "should only be restored to places where practicable" (qtd. in Jones). Is it practicable to place these beasts where they can easily cross paths with defenseless civilians and their pets? Wolves are physiologically aroused by domestic female dogs during their estrus cycle, and will attempt to mate with them, which can cause unwanted and perilous confrontations. Are people in rural areas exempt from the same constitutional civil liberties granted to city folk? Apparently Uncle Sam believes that the wishes of 70% of the unapprised populace is more essential than the security or needs of those that are directly affected.

However, despite evidence to the contrary, the accepted myth that wolves are afraid of civilization and do not harm people persists. An especially disturbing event took place in April of 1986, when a 24 year old wolf researcher named Tricia Wyman was killed and partially consumed by a pack of wolves, which had to be destroyed in order to recover her partially digested remains (Krak). Shockingly, only a month after the Wyman attack, NBC News featured a story about the project and reiterated the fallacy that wolves are benign animals that don't kill people. When cold reality was brought to their attention, the news agency recanted their earlier statements and said "There are no documented cases of healthy wild wolves attacking humans" (qtd. in Jennings). The inference appears to be that when a wolf attacks a person it is perceived as being either deranged or desensitized to humans because of captivity. When asked what "documented" meant, USFWS biologist Dr. David Mech stated that "The head of the wolf must be removed, sent to a lab for testing, and found to be rabid" (qtd. in Jennings). In other words, historical evidence is unacceptable and invalid because it does not meet the documentation criteria! Since the experiment has begun, a number of more useful predators like coyotes, bears, foxes, raccoons and bobcats have been forced to spread out and increase their predatory range, further endangering the locals. While it is true that wolves have appreciably reduced the number of coyotes; they also require larger prey and appear to do even more extensive damage to the environment that they inhabit. The problem facing residents is that they are able to protect themselves from the aforementioned, whereas there are extreme sanctions against harming wolves because of the E.S.A., including severe fines, imprisonment, and the loss of a rancher's grazing lease.

Is there a reasonable solution that would appease naturalists while protecting private interests? It is possible, but only if the Distinct Population Segments section of the Act were amended or wolves are de-listed. The DPS says that animals separated by geographical boundaries and international borders are considered discrete and distinct populations, which explains how sixty-thousand wolves can exist in Canada and be listed as endangered here, despite the fact that they are the same species. It is also crucial that financial compensation be immediately paid to farmers who have been victimized by wolf predation. The civilian-rights group People Against Wolves (PAW) suggests giving population control duties to local authorities, whom they believe would be more responsive to their concerns and less swayed by public opinion and national environmental interests. The only other option is 'removal," which means eliminating the wolves once and for all, an act that can only be performed by federal agents under the current system.

Since 1973, when wolves were wrongly listed as endangered, a glut of pro-wolf propaganda has permeated our society and colored the perception of this feral beast as a timid and noble canine. The same cultural attitudes that nurtured the wolf recovery plan have produced an extreme degree of wolf protectionism, which obscures the fact that these animals have never been in danger of becoming extinct like the passenger pigeon. As with most conflicts of this type, the reality of the situation is that wildlife conservation is a big business which generates a considerable amount of revenue. Budgetary figures taken from the 10/29/99 Wisconsin Wolf Plan show that $1,547,373.00 was donated to Operation: Wolfstock from 1979-1998 (Brown) and therein lies the dilemma. Ranchers want the U.S. government to relinquish a political tool that doubles as a major funding channel so the private sector can protect their lives and livelihood. Caught in the middle of this conflict is an animal that has been reviled by civilized society for centuries. In an interview with Peter Jennings, a rancher on the east fork of the Salmon River named Melody Baker expressed her own sad indictment upon our society: "The people in the cities want this, and there are more of them there, so it's become an issue of 'A lot of people here want this and you're just a few so you're expendable.'" Isn't it time to find a solution before this situation ends in an avoidable tragedy?

Reintroducing: The Wolves

"The first wolf released was an alpha female. I looked into the green eyes of the magnificent creature within a spectacular landscape. I was profoundly moved by the elevating nature of America's conservation laws; Laws with the power to make creation whole." — Bruce Babbitt, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (qtd. in Brown)

The gray wolf or Canis lupis, the largest members of the Canid (dog) family, have roamed the continent of North America since the beginning of the Pleistocene period, which began about one million years ago. Their free-roaming sovereignty came to an end over the past two-hundred years as settlers from the east began to colonize the western portion of the United States. To make room for the new order, Native Americans and indigenous wildlife alike were callously "removed." In a relatively short period of time, wolves were rendered extinct in more than 95% of their original range. Seeking to uphold the pledge of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a group of naturalists led by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, implemented the Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf Recovery Plan or "Operation: Wolfstock." This consisted of reintroducing three packs of wolves into Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park, with the intention of restoring the natural order. Although it is an experiment with some risk, I strongly believe that our government has a moral and ethical responsibility to repair the ecological damage wrought by our forefathers.

European societies celebrated domestic dogs as allies and protectors while vilifying their wild relatives as fierce and feral enemies. Old world myths, psalms, and children's fairy tales, have propagated the mystique of the wolf as a ghoulish predator with an unquenchable thirst for blood. In contrast, Native Americans like the Nez-Perce tribe of Idaho have immortalized the wolf as influential spirits, while the Rocky Mountain Blackfoot believed the "Wolf Trail" (Milky Way) to be a sacrosanct path to the spirit world. The Indians also offered their own alternative folklore to the devilish incantations of European legend. The Blackfoot Legend of the Friendly Medicine Wolf tells of a young girl who escaped from enemies and was safely escorted home by lupines, which is the antithesis of familiar folktales that promote the fallacy of "The big, bad wolf" (Jones). The Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean in the early nineteenth century was the first American research group to have been impartial observers and chroniclers of wolves at their glorious, primal peak. Captain Lewis described the thousands of lupines he encountered across the American plains as being "extremely gentle" (Jones).

As the nineteenth century came to a close, nearly one hundred thousand wolves roamed the western United States. Early pioneers and homesteaders saw them as threats and, with governmental assistance, began systematic extermination of the species. Bounties of $5 per head were placed upon the creatures, which proved to be a lucrative trade for many trappers of the era. Preferred methods of elimination included burning them alive inside their dens, using decrepit wolf traps, poisoning their water sources, and shooting them on sight. After 50 years had passed, nearly 2 million wolves had been callously slaughtered; but their disappearance had voluminous effects on their former habitats. Yellowstone Biologist Douglas Smith says, "The Wolf is a keystone species, remove it and the effects cascade down to the grasses" (qtd in Kluger). In the wolf's absence, coyotes had taken their place, forcing local populations of Foxes, Badgers, and Martens out of their habitats due to decreased sustenance in the form of small game and their eggs, many of which belonged to other endangered species like the bald eagle and horned owl. Meanwhile, prey populations in the form of elk, mule deer, and sheep increased exponentially, which severely damaged the areas vegetation. The once plentiful aspen groves were devoured by the tremendous number of elk and the older ones that remained grew weak with rot. As a result, many elk died of starvation in the harsh winters of Wyoming.

The controversy surrounding the reintroduction of the Gray Wolf into the wild has raised ethical and spiritual questions, while polarizing conservationists and landowners. While some anti-wolf prejudice still lingers, those opinions have been tempered by a more educated and less prejudicial public that largely wants to preserve the howl of the wolf in the wild, a fact proven in recent surveys which show that nearly 70% of the American populace supports the project. In January of 1995, 31 wolves were reintroduced into the expansive environs of Yellowstone National Park after a seventy-year absence. They consisted of three packs, led by alpha pairs, who act as the clan leaders. Over the past 8 years, the known population has expanded to more than three hundred and the effects of their presence have been noticeable. Since the process began, data shows that Wyoming now has the most balanced ecosystem in the lower forty-eight states. This is due to wolves retaking their place atop the ecological food chain; above the lesser carnivores which are physically unable to prey upon the larger herbivores. A welcome fact for park managers is that Elk kills are becoming more common, as their population has more than doubled in the absence of their greatest enemy. The carcasses of the antlered dead are beneficial to a multitude of other animals as well. On a 220 kg elk, wolves typically consume 90 kg which leaves scraps for scavenging animals that include ravens, hawks, and eagles. The concern that grizzly bears would become rarer due to increased competition has also proven to be unwarranted. Bears appear to share a symbiotic relationship with the canines, as they enthusiastically indulge in their leftovers. It also has been noted that the Yellowstone wolves have killed nearly half of the coyotes in the park, allowing ecological breathing room for competing creatures. Wildlife ecologist Robert Crabtree: "We're seeing beneficial effects from the top down. Who knows how far it will go?" (qtd. in Kluger).

Despite the obvious benefits, vehement and vocal opposition came from game hunters, who viewed wolves as competition, and from ranchers, who thought of the animals as unscrupulous predators that would develop a taste for their livestock instead of wild game. The reappearance of wild canines in the west signaled an ominous future for a beleaguered ranching industry already reeling from volatile market conditions and USDA codes. Ranchers saw roaming packs as direct government intervention in their pioneer lifestyle. One man described how listening to the reintroduction plan was like "Jews listening to an affable Nazi sing the praises of Auschwitz" (qtd. in Jones). Although seven heads of cattle and eighty-four sheep have been killed by the packs, that number is quite insignificant because domestic dogs account for an average of 3500 sheep deaths per year in neighboring Montana alone! Vern Keller, a rancher for nearly 48 years expressed his concern: "There are the stresses of not knowing wolves are in the area and when they'll strike. It keeps us on edge" (qtd. in Kluger). In an attempt to compensate and appease cattle ranchers, the Defenders of Wildlife have set up a fund to compensate them for their losses and have paid out under $22,000 over a 6 year period, which is not a large amount given the cost per head. One irrefutable fact about gray wolves is that there has never been a single recorded instance of a human casualty caused by one! The preferred diet of a wolf is not livestock and it is certainly not people. Wolves prey predominately on the older and weaker members of large, roaming herds. "We scarcely see a gang of buffalo without observing a parcel of those faithful shepherds on their skirts in readiness to take care of the maimed wounded. The large wolf never barks, but howls as those of the Atlantic States do" wrote Captain Meriwether Lewis in his personal journal (qtd. in Brown). An examination on film of their hunting habits is a fascinating study of instinctive strategy and teamwork. The wolves select a single vulnerable animal and pursue it relentlessly and without deviation. The Alpha male (leader) gathers his pack and isolates the animal from its herd. Once accomplished, the other half of the pack pursues the animal to a secluded area, until the weakened prey is no longer able to resist. In accordance with official Yellowstone policy, "No native predator should be killed on account of its normal utilization of any other park animal" (qtd. in Jones).

In deference to the opposition, advocates have made concession to the concerned local populace. In addition to the aforementioned compensation for lost livestock, transplanted wolves are considered an "experimental population", rather than a federally protected endangered species. The distinction is that the wolves are safe as long as they do not present a threat to ranchers and their cattle. Put another way, the Yellowstone wolves are on probation and are allowed to roam as long as they stay within their territory, preying only upon what people wish them to. Presently, there has been only one serious epidemic involving the wolves. Bob Fuhrman, a Yellowstone park ranger, reported that a single, "delinquent", young wolf attacked and injured about 50 privately owned sheep, forcing authorities to kill it (Jango-Cohen). But what if the killer is not a member of the experimental population? Indigenous wolves still exist, although their numbers are few. This means that if a native wolf kills a sheep or cow, and is shot in turn, then a farmer is guilty of a crime against an animal that is protected by the Endangered Species Act. Desiring to promote their own interests, the opposition is currently petitioning the district courts to have the animals again removed. They say that the reintroduction process was illegal and in violation of landowners rights. Advocates counter by stating that wolves were butchered because of private interests and have a natural right to the land. If the district courts were to rule in favor of the landowners, then the canines would have to be rounded up once again. Despite the extensive legal arguments, both pro and con, dismantling such a noble undertaking would be a grave mistake. "I will fight with everything I have to keep the wolves in Yellowstone" says Interior Secretary Babbitt (qtd. in Kluger).

The reintroduction project is a righting of a great wrong. In the words of one author, "If we but try and make well-informed efforts to coexist with wolves, we may well see what is natural and right—the return of the wolf to its rightful place in the world" (qtd. in Brown). Although there is much that needs to done in order for people and wolves to coexist peacefully, there is hope for the future. A positive example is the Nez-Perce Wolf Education and Resource Center in Idaho, which combines traditional wisdom with modern science in the attempt to show wolves in a realistic habitat that nurtures and promotes their social behaviors. We can also start lifting the shroud of stereotyping by teaching children about positive wolf behavior that stands in contrast to prejudicial literature like Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs and fictional rubbish of its ilk. Biologist Pat Tucker tours nearly 200 schools each year for Wild Sentry, with a five year old wolf named Koani, teaching children about the breed. With the proper vision, the wolves will again answer the call of the wild without fear of abuse and persecution. Gerald Goldberg, a man who recently vacationed in Yellowstone with his family put the dilemma in a unique perspective, "I heard a wolf. I have mixed emotions. My father is a rancher. One night I heard a howl in the calm, evening dusk. Tears came to my eyes and a chill up my spine. I felt fear! I felt joy! This is right! The wolves are home!" (qtd. in Jango-Cohen).