The Reintroduction of Wolves to Yellowstone

Website by Iain Rumney

Word Count: 897

In 1995 when the National Park Service returned the wolves to Yellowstone, some people were concerned that the wolves would kill livestock and game. The grey wolf, an apex predator native to Yellowstone, was unknowingly about to break barriers that were formed from myth and legend centuries old.  Over the next 5 or 6 years the wolf had silently made changes in Yellowstone.

In 1995 when the wolves were reintroduced the people were split on how to think, some did not want them back because they can kill and eat livestock. The wolves were hunted in prior years for their fur and because they were scaring our young.
The people did not want them back because before they came the hunters did not need to work for the elk. The farmers were given extra money in the years after the reintroduction for keeping the wolves their land in a way they did not harm the wolves.

As you can see from the image above, the wolf population exploded to an outstanding high of about 170 wolves at one time, but in 2015 there were nearly 100 wolves in the park. 

Smith, Douglas W., et al. "YS 24-1 Wolf Restoration in Yellowstone 
     Reintroduction to Recovery." National Park Service, 6 July 2016, 
     www.nps.gov/yell/learn/ 

Hoffman, Austin, and Annie White. "History of Wild Wolves." Misson: Wolf, 2015, 
     missionwolf.org/wild-wolves/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2020.