Wolf Retintroduction

There is hope for the return of the wolf. According to Phillips and Smith (1996), by every measure the Yellowstone restoration project has been successful and has generated benefits that extend beyond the immediate preservation of the species, to positively affect local citizens and communities, larger conservation efforts, and other imperiled species. However, it has been a "raging war" over gray wolves ever since they were reintroduced five years ago (Corbett, 2000). There are strong arguments and actions being taken both for and against the return of wolves to the American West, including controversy over wolf population control.

photograph from www.wolveswolveswolves.org

Zimen (1981) stated that we must all gradually give way to the idea of an "ecologically functioning community" in which all native animal species live side by side with man. Is it our responsibility to restore the wolf to its simplified ecosystem, granted that we removed the wolf in the first place? Or does there a come a point when humans have to draw the line and stop interfering with nature? Maybe we've done enough damage already and the environment should be allowed to adapt and eventually evolve into a functioning ecosystem independent of this top predator. Perhaps humans also need to realize that we share this earth, and it is not at our disposal, or is it our right, to pick and choose which species are allowed to inhabit the land and which species need to be removed because we are inconvenienced. "Has the exploitation of nature reached such a pitch that only those creatures who seem useful to us have a right to life?" (Zimen, 1981).

Some people are convinced that reintroducing the wolf is a huge mistake. Local opponents of the Yellowstone wolf recovery claim that "the wolf is like a cockroach and will creep outside of Yellowstone and devour wildlife." Another local said "wolves don't feed and water the livestock and they don't help raise food for people to eat, so what good are they?" Advocates of reintroduction in Yellowstone have something different to say. One local claimed that "only a fool would not agree to the placement of this beautiful and essential animal," and that "wolves do not kill people, fatty beef does" (Kellert, 1995) It seems that humans have brought nature so firmly under our control that we are unable to tolerate a single disturbing factor. "The scope, the casual irresponsibility, and the cruelty of wolf killing is something else...[We] simply do not understand our place in the universe and have not the courage to admit it" (Lopez, 1978 cited in Kellert, 1995).

"Still the question recurs, "Can we do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew" Abraham Lincoln, address to Congress, 1862. The fate of the wolf is in our hands, and the future of the wolf is important. Reintroducing this top predator in the United States is more than returning a critical component of a biological system, it is symbolic of our relationship with nature. Humans have a history of fearing what we can't control. We got rid of this wild beast, and welcoming its return is a challenge as well as an inspiration of hope for the future of nature on this earth.

"One may well ask, doesn't it almost border on the absurd to waste words on the death of an animal in a world in which millions are suffering from hunger, a world with an ever increasing population, escalating use of energy, and a hyper-exponential increase in destruction of the environment, while all the time the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer? Certainly - but for the fact that the extinction of an animal species is symptomatic of the threat to ourselves. Once upon a time the wolf was a symbol of our fear of nature, our struggle against it: now it has become a symbol of our fear for nature, the environment that is all of ours. In the light of the consequences that are now becoming evident, the worst possible advice that could have been given to humanity was: Make yourselves masters of the world. It is becoming clear to us that it should have been: Adapt yourself to life in the world. Even though it sometimes takes generations for new ideas to be accepted, there is some hope for us all - as well as for that hunted hunter, the wolf." Zimen 1981