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Essay on Hardships Facing the Gray Wolf Population

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An eerie howl fills the air; it bellows over the darkened valley floor. A majestic show of fur and fang dance behind a herd of deer leaping through blanketed snow. Within a second, gunshots echo; and a fallen beauty lays unmoving, painting the snow beneath a deep red. In the past, with little understanding and an abundance of anger, humans in North America have caused much change to the gray wolf’s life. Alterations in habitat, behavior, diet, and human measures for control have created a multitude of hardships for the gray wolf population. Encroachment from human settlers has caused dramatic adjustments in the gray wolf’s habitat and behavior. Since the beginning of colonization in America, the gray wolf’s territories have been …show more content…

These conditions forced packs of gray wolves to retreat away from their known territory into other gray wolves habitat, causing blood soaked battles to ensue. The only alternative was for them to change their behavior, and try to coexist with their new human company. As main food sources diminished due to human hunting, the gray wolf found it more difficult to have a successful hunt. Hunters began taking the wolves main food sources, which forced the wolves to expand their daily search for prey. This caused wolves to venture near human settlements more often, looking for some kind of nourishment. With humans and wolves vying for many of the same food sources, wolves found slow and trusting farm animals a much easier target. Sheep and cattle were believed to be a new staple for the gray wolf diet. Although in reality, only in very rare circumstances were livestock hunted for meals by gray wolves. Many embellished the situation and persuaded people gray wolves were a threat. A menace not only to livestock, but also humans; moreover that action needed to be taken.
The fabricated lies spread by people caused many to take barbaric steps toward what they believed necessary control of wolves. Wanting more profit for themselves, greedy hunters looked for an easy way to get rid of competition. Using traps, hunters started catching wolves for their pelts, which they could sell for money. Hunting wolves also

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