Advocacy Project

Our Murderous Ways Will Drive Wolves to Extinction

Blood-stained snow covers the national parks of the United States. The once prospering landscape of Yellowstone and other national parks are becoming a place of murder, lies, and deep sorrows that will engrain into our society for all the future years to come. Wolves, once heavily populated in these parks, are being murdered at the hands of humans. These endangered animals are nearing extinction and it is our job to use our voices and knowledge to advocate for their livelihood. On our planet we must fight as one. If a singular ecosystem falls, we all will suffer greatly. Wolves are in great danger because they have been taken off the endangered species list, allowing hunters to kill every last wolf, until their entire species no longer stands. 

                                                                                                                                                                               In our country, we have something called the endangered species list. The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), which has kept 99% of protected species from going extinct, and continues to allow conservation and rehabilitation for endangered species. An animal obtains a place on this list when their population numbers are so low, they are at risk of extinction. Under the ESA, a species will be listed if they are being threatened or endangered because of any of the following 5 factors: present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; over-utilization of the species for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; disease or predation; inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; and other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence (Listing Species).

In 1967, two types of wolves; the red wolf and eastern timber wolf, were added to the endangered species list. Their population numbers were nearing extinction and they needed protection. By 1978, all wolf subspecies had been added to this list. Wolves are endangered because of overhunting, habitat loss, and poisoning due to humans. 

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What is so appalling is that in 2020, the slaughtering of wolves became legalized under the Trump administration, leaving wolves in great danger. Opposition to wolf protection comes from those that believe wolves are a threat to livestock and put their life into the hands of our government. Wolves are being hunted and poached. Though it is technically now legalized, many hunters are acting out of the legal realms and hunting wolves past ‘quota’ (Howell, 2020). 

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Wolves were put on this list for a reason. For decades, national parks have been working to rehabilitate and restore wolves' landscape and home. Biologist Doug Smith explains that the loss of the Yellowstone wolves “is a huge setback,” Doug is a National Park Service worker, who has helped lead the park’s wolf restoration and study project, which began in 1995. “We had in Yellowstone one of the best models for understanding the behaviors and dynamics of a wolf population unexploited by humans.” (Morell, 2022). Doug hopes that research can continue with the little landscape they have left, but has little hope with the fact that wolf populations are quickly declining. 

The government has become one of wolves greatest enemies. There are many social and scientific challenges that deeply affect wolves as well though. Though our government decides to ignore such challenges, they are why wolves have suffered so much over the past few decades, even before the Trump administration's recent efforts to diminish their livelihood. 

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Human activity negatively impacts wolves. There are many small, isolated populations of wolves. These populations are greatly impacted by hybridization, because of their lack of genetic diversity. Humans dominate wolves' space and allow other animals like canines to take over their space, making the likelihood of hybridization higher (Ausband & Mech, 2023). Furthermore, wolves are extremely susceptible to diseases that humans force them to interact with, further threatening their population growth. Ausband and Mech explain in their Scholarly article ‘The challenges of success: Future wolf conservation and management in the United States’ an example of how diseases could threaten wolves entire population; “an outbreak of distemper or parvovirus in Mexican wolves would likely reduce reproductive output and genetic diversity in the population that are key Endangered Species Act recovery criteria”. 

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If wolves are unable to follow the endangered species act recovery criteria, there population will die. Our ecosystems rely on all the animals within it. This would greatly impact not only the livelihood of animals, plants, nature, but could even disrupt human populations.

Currently, humans do not support wolves. There has been great tension between these species and humans for the past few decades.  Wolf populations expand to landscapes all over our planet. Many conflicts arise with wolf relationships with humans, pets, and livestock, as tolerance for wolves declines with time, especially now that they have zero protection (Ausband & Mech, 2023). 

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Wolves face strong backlash. Though their populations are reaching all-time lows, they still are found in places that humans do not want them. For example; in Wisconsin, state law enacts an annual wolf hunt to keep their numbers low, so that they do not disrupt human activity. When the Trump administration removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list, hunters killed over 200 wolves, more than 80% over the quota of killings they were supposed to have made (Taylor, 2021). Humans do not care about wolves' lives, they simply care about protecting themselves.  “With increased urbanization, this divide may grow, diminishing support for rural communities dealing with frequent wolf conflict.” (Ausband & Mech 2023). 

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Our government has taken over, completely ignoring science, disregarding the lives of all animals on our planet, putting our ecosystem in grave danger. Wolf populations have been greatly fluctuating over the past few years. Their lives have been put into the hands of whoever holds the most power. Our government's hands are bloody and it is our job as citizens and humans within this ecosystem to put all our efforts towards making changes to help the endangered lives on our planet.

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The wolves in our ecosystem have been left unprotected. For wolf populations to grow and prosper in our planet's ecosystem, they need to be put back on the endangered species act. Conservation is possible. Many researchers have been studying these wolves for decades, understanding their growth patterns, and how they affect ecological ecosystems. These researchers are aware of what wolves need for conservation, but their knowledgeable research is completely ignored among our government. Humans see wolves as vicious animals that take over their lands. In reality, wolves are extremely smart, loving beings. Humans need to shift their perspective towards wolves. We need to all work together to conserve their ecosystems and rehabilitate their populations. For wolf conservation to happen, we need to advocate for them. Wolves need to be put back on the endangered species list, humans need to shift their perspectives on these creatures, and ecosystems need restoration so that wolf populations can slowly be reintroduced back into their homes. None of this will happen unless we take the initiative and use our activism to make real changes.

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  (Trump Administration)

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Wolf conservation is an issue that has been prevalent for decades. We have seen their populations fluctuate and dip to threatening numbers. The fact of the matter is that we know the solutions. Scientists and other knowledgeable humans are completely aware of what has to be done to save the wolves. Countless researchers have studied their behaviors and have seen how possible rehabilitation is. The first step to wolf conservation is grassroot activism. As humans on this planet it is our job to use our voices for those that cannot. Public awareness and engagement is crucial for wolf conservation. Nothing is going to change unless we make it happen. 

To advocate for wolf protection, we need to contact our government and state officials. State-level efforts are extremely important. They can help stop poaching, hunting, and mass murders. Every region has different regulations. If humans all over advocate for the animals in their home, then real differences can be made. 

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There are many organizations that make wolf advocacy extremely simple to navigate for the average human. Organizations like the ‘Wolf Conservation Center’ help wolves all over our country. Their mission is; “to advance the survival of wolves by inspiring a global community through education, advocacy, research, and recovery.” (Wolf Conservation Center). They value respect, community, and passion. Their goal is to give humans a voice when it comes to wolf conservation. Organizations like these work hard to help rehabilitate wolves. They hold conservation acts, advocate for wolves all over, and hold events to help make money to aid these wolves in recovery. Through these organizations you can donate, volunteer, find resources for who to contact to make changes, join events that educate humans, and so much more. Organizations like these make advocacy easy. Advocacy is the first step to helping solve the solution of wolf conservation, but there is much more that must be done to really give wolves the lives they deserve. 

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Wolves' ecological role is essential to our planet. Many humans do not understand how crucial it is for us to coexist with these animals. In the past, there have been many issues with wolves interacting with livestock or overpopulating rural areas. As time goes, we learn more about our planet and are able to make plans to best combat the issues at hand. Many scientists have studied how best to reintroduce wolf populations whilst mitigating conflicts and creating safety for wolves. 

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Organizations like the NRDC work to advance healthy coexistence practices. “We’re working to increase support to those who have livestock and are living near wolves by offering them a suite of nonlethal tools for protecting their animals,” (Hu, Sheila). By implementing these solutions, we can create more safety for both humans and wolves. If we stop seeing wolves as a threat then more and more humans will advocate for wolves to go back onto the ESA. NRDC’s practices began small, but have already reached multiple states. For this conservation to continue the NRDC has gotten politically involved. They have asked congress for funds and fight for wolves rights on a daily basis. It is obvious that the government's decisions are biased and uneducated. The solutions the NRDC has begun to implement prove that coexisting with wolves is possible and that rehabilitation can take place. 

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Many scientists realize that wolf rehabilitation will not be easy. Most of the solutions that have been stated include advocacy, funding, and making political changes, but how can we actually introduce wolf populations back into our planet? A scholarly article by Daniel S. Licht, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Kyran E. Kunkel, Christopher O. Kochanny, Rolf O. Peterson explains that; before wolves can be reintroduced into areas, their ecosystems need to be rehabilitated. To rebuild these ecosystems, reintroduction of small-non-self sustaining wolf populations need to be reintroduced into managed parks for the purpose of restoration, education, and rehabilitation. The most important thing is that wolves have adequate prey and are able to rebalance and regulate their prey populations. This approach could have positive ecological and environmental impacts. Wolves are wild, so this does go against many biases towards how wolves should be raised, but some human intervention is simply necessary right now. 

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A huge concern that is present when creating plans to reintroduce wolves is wolf-human relationships. We of course can educate humans, but we also can use our technology and actions to make rehabilitation easier and more agreeable. “Wolf recovery is also about shifting our relationship with nature to one of reciprocity, rather than competition and conflict.” (Hu, Sheila) Licht, D, et. al., propose using real time tracking. This would allow us to respond to any conflicts and ensure everyone's safety. With these tracking devices we can even create boundaries or even make actual barriers of where wolves can or cannot access. Though this takes away from them being wild, for their populations to grow, they need human intervention. Another effective management tool is reproduction control. Such tools would be necessary to manage such small wolf populations. For wolf rehabilitation to happen, there must be many control factors. 

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Wolf lives have been put into the hands of our government. Our government ignores facts, and does not care about the ecological or environmental effects of their actions. To save wolves and the ecosystems they live in, we need to use our voices and advocate for their safety. We need to ensure that decisions are no longer solely made by our corrupt government and give the power back to the people. If wolves fall, we will suffer the consequences. This is an issue now, it is time to make changes, now is the save wolves.

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References

Ausband, D. E., & Mech, L. D. (2023). The challenges of success: Future wolf conservation and management in the United States. BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biad053

Howell, M. (2022, February 7). U.S. treatment of wolves is brutal, often illegal, and bitterly partisan. Fix. U.S. treatment of wolves is brutal, often illegal, and bitterly partisan | Fix (grist.org)

Listing Species Under the Endangered Species Act. (2023, June 27). https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/listing-species-under-endangered-species-act

Morell, V. (2022, Jan 31) Massive wolf kill disrupts long-running study of Yellowstone park packs. Science Insider. Massive wolf kill disrupts long-running study of Yellowstone park packs | Science | AAAS

Taylor, C. Wisconsin wolf hunt overshoots quota, worrying conservationists. (2021, March 5). MPR News. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/03/05/science-friday-wisconsin-wolf-hunt-overshoots-quota-worrying-conservationists