CONCLUSION

It has been well known and documented that there used to be hundreds of wolves in the Yellowstone Park area as well as throughout the United States. With the coming of the Europeans, wolves were seen as a threat and were hunted to near extinction. Only a few select people came together and began the race to save the few remaining wolves and restore their range in the west. Wolves have been the natural predator in this area for generations and with them gone the ecosystem was out of balance. On the other side of the debate, wolves will pose a threat to the ranches with their thousands of livestock. The wolves have been gone so long that ranchers have built up their ranches and crowded on the park boundaries. With the reintroduction the livestock will be threatened to an extent. Here data shows what kind of impact can be seen on the livestock and ungulate herds of the park area. Both sides have good arguments and the only way the wolf can be free in Yellowstone is if there is middle ground.

It can be seen that the wolves are misunderstood by some to be ruthless killers that attack children in the woods just for the fun of killing. It can also be said there is good and bad in everything or life couldn't exist. Maybe rumors such as this could apply to many other large predators but with education people can begin to understand these animals and hopefully other endangered species as well.

 

Figure 4 Wolf track

 

 

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