ABOVE: © LUCY CONKLIN
In the mid-1990s, officials at Yellowstone National Park released gray wolves from areas in Canada and Montana into the park; it had been more than half a century since the predators last roamed the park. Researchers tracking the revolutionary experiment published results that they say point to the reintroduction’s role in revitalizing the once-degraded ecosystem, with the wolves’ predatory behavior indirectly supporting the growth of vegetation and even improving the health of the park’s waterways. But a heated debate rages on concerning the effects the wolves had on their environment, especially relative to roles of other members of Yellowstone’s rich carnivore community.
41 gray wolves reintroduced in the mid-1990s
Following wolf reintroduction, elk numbers dropped dramatically—from nearly 20,000 in 1994 to just 8,300 in 2000—but wolves are likely not the only carnivore that contributed to that decline; black bear, grizzly, and cougar populations surged around the ...
