Bringing the wolves back to Yellowstone

Forest and Bird, Issue 281, 1 August 1996, Page 39

Bringing the wolves back to Yellowstone

FTER 60 YEARS absence wolves are prowling Yellowstone National Park once again. Eliminated from the park earlier this century, the grey wolf (Canis lupus), has been reintroduced under an ambitious Endangered Species Act plan. After two decades of debate, fifteen wolves were transported from Alberta, Canada, in 1995 and placed in fenced enclosures in the backcountry of the park. The wolves acclimatised well and were then released into the wild. They have roamed over 80 kilometres from the release site and have produced pups. The reintroduction plan aims to establish ten packs of wolves in the park

by the year 2002. However, the plan has been strongly opposed by farmers in the region who have challenged it in the federal courts. Compensation to farmers who suffer stock losses to wolves is available from an existing $100,000 nationwide fund. No claims have so far been paid in the Yellowstone area but seventeen different claimants have been compensated from the fund in other parts of the country. Officials involved in the reintroductions say that so far they have succeeded beyond their expectations. Park managers hope that the programme will go some way towards restoring the original ecological balance provided by large predators in the park.