How Do Wolves Affect Our Ecosystem?

The gray wolf is one of the world’s most well known and well researched animals with more documentation on them than any other wildlife species. It is a canid whose main habitats are in the wilderness of remote areas in North America, Eurasia and North Africa. It is the largest member of the wolf family, usually weighing between 70 and 120 lbs, and closely resembles in general appearance and proportions to a modern day breed of dog known as the German Sheppard, although they typically have a larger head, narrower chest, longer legs, straighter tails and bigger paws. The narrow chest of the gray wolf allows for swift and efficient movement through the common elements of their environment such as snow, brush and other conditions. Their larger heads indicate their higher level of intelligence and their large paws, webbed with fur aid in movement across mud and snow. The colour of a gray wolf’s fur lives up to its name and is predominantly a mottled gray although the gray wolf can also have fur that is nearly pure white, mixes of red, brown, or black. Being very social animals, gray wolves do mostly everything in packs of 2 – 15 animals; living, traveling and hunting. They can hunt and feed off smaller game, yet with their large pack size, they can work collectively to bring down large game such as deer, moose or bison. There are 37 recognized subspecies of the gray wolf in total ranging across six continents with familiar names that one

But what us humans fail to realize is that gray wolves mostly prey on small things like rabbit and beavers. The gray wolf can actually live in many different biomes as long as the climate is mostly cold. Most of the gray wolves habitat is located in the northern hemisphere where there is long and cold winters and very short summers. The gray wolf is a big part of our environment they help keep the primary number of consumer down, scavengers feed on the wolveś leftovers, and the soil also benefits from the wolveś kills. Wolf interactions with other carnivores such as coyotes can shift some species populations probably not significantly.

The wolf population grew gradually over the years ever since wolves arrived to Yellowstone. In the year 1995 there was only 3

This image was correct until the vast westward expansion of settlers that came with herds of livestock. This human migration put them into contact with the alpha predator of the area, the grey wolf. Soon the settlers started to farm the land and took much of the natural habitat and prey that the wolves depended on to survive. With their primary food source starting to decline, wolves

In 1924 because of a “government policy the federal government deliberately killed all the wolf packs” in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. This policy was passed because of the lack of knowledge and fear. These animals have been a scapegoat throughout human history. But what happens when we take a large predatory animal out of the ecosystem; when we keep the big bad wolf from doing its part in the environment.

Long before the settlers started to make the United States their home, “American Indians lived long beside the Gray Wolf before settlers started to come here.” (Rowe, Mark) The wolf is native to the North American continent and has been inhabiting its land for centuries. It is a canid species, or member of the canine family and is a cunning, smart, fast, and sly animal. Gray wolves range in color from black, brown, gray, and white and also look like a grown German Shepherd. They are well known for traveling in family sizes from 7-9 wolves, led by the alpha male and have a mate. They are a fierce animal that has been researched extensively because of their unique qualities and that they are near extinction.

finally after 70 years they bring back wolves to yellowstone. The wolves quickly repopulated yellowstone. they kept the balance of animals such as: deer, moose,

Regulating the smaller predator and prey population allows plants to grow and their roots prevent erosion around streams and fields. When wolves are not present in a habitat prey increases and overgrazing occurs. When wolves kill their prey the remains of the carcass fill the ground full of nutrients. Wolves even affect fish populations. Wolves are included in the trophic cascade phenomenon.

The problem with all of these new wolves is related to where they came from. Because there were originally so few wolves left in the wild, when the time came for actions to be done about the dwindling population the wolves didn’t have a chance to breed in

These animals are the prey of the wolves.

They were named the Magic Pack, and not long after their arrival more wolves came flooding in. In 1995, 31 Canadian wolves were brought to America. Now, thirty years later, there are currently more than four thousand wolves in America, living in thirteen different states. There are more than one hundred wolves in Yellowstone National Park alone.

There are few types of wolves that live in canada. The wolves that are left in Canada we should cherish, because soon they will become so rare, that there population could be whipped out. Firstly there is the Arctic wolf, which is usually found up North where it is cold in Canada, the Arctic wolves have beautiful thick white fur. The second wolf that i will tell you about is the grey wolf, the grey wolf is a more common wolf but none the less gorgeous with its gray and black fur. The grey wolfs used to roam the united states, but almost all of them were exterminated. Now the grey wolves habitat is excluded to Canada, Alaska, the Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest. The next wolf i

As of now there is a trifling number of wolves that reside in Minnesota. There are about 2,423 wolves that live in Minnesota

In North America as far back as the 19th century, 200,000 to 500,000 wolves lived among the Native American people. Wolves played a major part in nearly all legends and mythology of the Native American tribes. Since that time, many things have changed; today, the Native American people tell these stories, many of which involve wolves, in art and songs. They speak how the wolf saved the people from the Great Flood, and how they provided fur to the Native American people to keep warm.

The wolves' habit of hunting in packs has resulted in the development of complex patterns of social behavior. Wolves are gregarious: they not only hunt in packs or groups but live most of their lives with other wolves. Studies in Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan , and parts of Canada show that a family made up of male, female, and pups is the basic pack unit. Other adults are pups of previous years or, more rarely, adults from other packs. Adolescent