Reintroduction of Wolves in Yellowstone

[The_Eagle]

I found this video interesting.
Sometimes we don't realize how many different things are affected with the reintroduction.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ysa5OBhXz-Q

[Tough_Boots]

One of my favorite books last year was David Moskowitz's Wolves in the Land of Salmon. It's about the current wolf packs surviving in the Pacific Northwest and it touches on some of those same ideas. Don't waste your time with that Jim and Jamie Dutcher garbage no matter how much National Geographic pushes it.

[FOTG]

@The Eagle
I watched link on Friday at school...amazing the role they play in the greater scheme of things..however, I wonder if it was slanted towards pro-wolf people...and those in support of more reintroduction programs..either way interesting.

[azbackpackr]

My brother and his wife live outside rural Challis, Idaho, where there is a lot of concern about the wolves due to the fact that they carry hyatid disease, Echinococcus granulosus, a kind of tapeworm, which can be passed on to humans and domestic animals. And trust me, you don't want this disease. It can infect the brain as well as other bodily organs, silently, and then you die:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wil ... wolves.pdf

http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2010/01/ ... tapeworms/

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... 0.abstract

http://forums.yellowstone.net/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5129

[CannondaleKid]

It can infect the brain as well as other bodily organs, silently, and then you die:

Wow, a real epidemic, 300 human infections since 1950!
At less than 5 humans a year I'd say this just may be a bit overblown. Just about every wild animal has one or another parasite, organism or whatever that is harmful to humans... so I guess I won't be picking up and eating the coyote scat I encounter on my hikes anymore. ;)

[azbackpackr]

It can infect the brain as well as other bodily organs, silently, and then you die:

Wow, a real epidemic, 300 human infections since 1950!
At less than 5 humans a year I'd say this just may be a bit overblown. Just about every wild animal has one or another parasite, organism or whatever that is harmful to humans... so I guess I won't be picking up and eating the coyote scat I encounter on my hikes anymore. ;)

Yes, it's like anything else, the people who don't like wolves will promote this to death, showing how bad it is. However, there is a good case for hyatid disease becoming more widespread. I liked the suggestion that wolves be fed bait with the medicine to prevent the disease. That probably would be a very expensive program, though. It would have to go on for many years throughout the region in order to be effective.

[chumley]

Yes. Because feeding wild animals to alleviate human inconvenience has previously proven to be a great plan. :roll:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=8183

[Tough_Boots]

However, there is a good case for hyatid disease becoming more widespread. I liked the suggestion that wolves be fed bait with the medicine to prevent the disease.

Let's not forget that every other year there's a new virus or bacteria that's supposed to wipe out the planet . Making wolves dependent on bait? They can travel 50 miles a day and have complex pack structures partially based on hunting. They would be stripped of everything "wolf" about them.

[Jim]

However, there is a good case for hyatid disease becoming more widespread. I liked the suggestion that wolves be fed bait with the medicine to prevent the disease.

Let's not forget that every other year there's a new virus or bacteria that's supposed to wipe out the planet . Making wolves dependent on bait? They can travel 50 miles a day and have complex pack structures partially based on hunting. They would be stripped of everything "wolf" about them.

Maybe they meant dogs? Domestic dogs.

[azbackpackr]

No, there was a hysterical blog that said they should put bait out for the wolves (they have about 4,000 in Idaho alone, I believe) with the medicine in it. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

You have to realize I just enjoy stirring the pot when oftentimes I haven't actually made up my mind on how I feel about a topic. It's just great fun to sit back and watch the fight!
:STP:
:whistle:

[FOTG]

@azbackpackr

I don't know if baiting wolves with medicine has a precedent, but baiting wolves in an attempt to kill them worked in the early 1900s...

For as great as he was, Aldo Leopold was a proponent of using poison to kill wolves, in fact, he personally carried out the poisoning of carcasses with arsenic per advice of local ranchers in his attempts to eradicate wolves in the Southwest..and it turned out to be the tipping point for wolf eradication in that area..

[Pivo]

Did Wolf Reintroduction Really Cause Widely-Touted “Trophic Cascades” in Yellowstone?
Recent findings may have debunked a key claim surrounding the benefit of wolf reintroduction programs.
https://www.fieldandstream.com/conserva ... de-theory/

[chumley]

@Pivo That was good reading. (The study, not the article). A point that I found to be interesting later in the discussion indicated that the reduction in elk populations has resulted in an increase in bison populations, who are apparently not subject to wolf predation, and that while beaver populations are diminishing inside the park, they are increasing on streams surrounding the park, outside of the bison's range. The natural world is complex!

[Pivo]

@chumley
I am impressed, yet not surprised you took the time to pore over it.

[chumley]

@Pivo And I'm impressed that there's somebody on the internet in 2024 who knows that pore is the correct spelling of the term.

[big_load]

@Pivo That was good reading. (The study, not the article). A point that I found to be interesting later in the discussion indicated that the reduction in elk populations has resulted in an increase in bison populations, who are apparently not subject to wolf predation, and that while beaver populations are diminishing inside the park, they are increasing on streams surrounding the park, outside of the bison's range. The natural world is complex!

I suppose it's easier for wolves to pick off an elk here and there than to get the same number of bison from the herd, and fewer elk makes better grazing for bison.

I don't blame the wolves for their preference. I don't think I could recruit enough friends to go after a herd of bison with traditional tools to be assured of a good meal. I'm in awe of the people who did that on a regular basis

[Nighthiker]

Show up at a game and fish meeting and ask to include an Atlatl season for hunting.

[JimmyLyding]

Wolves usually run their quarry to exhaustion before moving in for the kill. This works well with elk because they typically run away from wolves while the much larger bison surrounds its young and stands and fights.