There has been a lot of debate lately about whether or not wolves should be removed from the endangered species list. I don't think they should. Why? Lets think about the numbers for a minute. All the people that want then delisted are saying that there are like 200-300 wolves in the Rocky Mountain region (Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah). Think about it. How many people live in your sub division? A couple hundred? How about your ward boundaries? Four or Five hundred maybe? Now picture this. If the only people in the united states were the ones that lived in your sub division would you consider them endangered? Now spread them out across four different states. What would you think of their population then? Would you say they were endangered? Or would you say there were too many people and at least half of them needed to be killed off? That is essentially what people are saying about wolves. How is that for perspective?
I can understand saying that there needs to be population control. That is true. But if you study the wolves that are in Yellowstone, they are their own population control. After talking with a ranger this summer up in Yellowstone I learned that the wolf population in the park is actually going down. Why? There are two reasons. The first one is they had a disease that killed a bunch of them off. Second, they are killing each other off. Why? Wolves are extremely territorial. If a pack of wolves wanders into the territory of another pack the invading wolves will be killed off. That is unless they kill off the local pack and take over the territory. I learned that the largest pack in Yellowstone was killed off by a smaller pack. I believe there are now only 10-11 packs of wolves in Yellowstone left. They estimate that there are around 110 wolves in the greater Yellowstone area. That is 110 wolves in a 1.2 million acre area. That equates to 1 wolf per 10,910 acres. How is that too many wolves?
People claim that elk populations are dropping drastically in Yellowstone because of the wolves. According to park rangers that is not the case. In fact, the elk population has gone up the past year. And based on my own observation, the deer population is just as healthy. So the wolves aren't killing off the herd populations. Yes the population would go down when wolves were reintroduced. That was to be expected. But after a time the population would regulate and be back to where it should be. And that seems to be where the park is at now. Why can the people that want the wolves killed off not see that? They still insist that the wolves are going to kill off the elk. I would like to know how they figure that.
One fact that I have on my side is hundreds of years of history. Last time I checked, it was only in the last 100 years that wolves were wiped out. Before that they went unchecked. I guarantee that there were more wolves in the wild 100 years ago than there are now. And yet for hundreds of years the elk herds and deer herds survived. So if the wolf population was higher then than it is now then how did the elk and deer survive? Simple, Mother Nature has her own form of population control. If the population of one species gets too high, then nature will correct that population. Whether it be through drought, heavy snowfall, extreme temperatures or predators. Nature takes care of itself. Humans just get in the way and destroy it most of the time.
If you are worried about deer and elk populations in Utah then maybe you should worry about things that are really driving down the population. Things such as houses being built up in the mountains. When I was growing up I used to be able to sit on my front porch with binoculars and watch herds of deer roam the mountain side. Now if I look at that same spot on the mountain from the same porch all I see are big, expensive houses. No more deer. But were the wolves to blame? Nope. Humans were. Houses are being built farther and farther up the mountain. They are being built in the canyons and in the forests. When this happens, the elk and deer are driven out. Where do they have to go? Into smaller and smaller areas. Take a drive up I-80 from Weber Canyon up to Devils Slide. Count the number of dead animals you see on the side of the road. Especially in the spring and fall. The number of dead deer would amaze you. I have seen as many as 10 dead deer on the side of that road in a 4-5 mile stretch of that road. And that was on just one day. Most of those deer were fresh kills too. So how many deer are killed in that short stretch of road each year by cars? I bet you the number would be shocking. I would be willing to bet that there are more deer and elk killed in the Rocky Mountain Region from being hit by cars than are killed by wolves.
So the next time someone says wolves are endangering elk and deer. Look at the big picture and all the factors that affect herd populations and then see if you still think wolves are the ones to blame.
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