Talk:Wolf reintroduction

Larger Wolves?

I live close to an area where wolves were reintroduced. I have heard opponents of reintroduction claim that the introduced wolves were much larger than the wolves that originally inhabited the area. The majority of the information I have gleaned from the internet indicates that this is not true. Does anyone have a creditable source on this issue? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.239.253.2 (talk) 23:10, 12 March 2007 (UTC).

According to Wikipedia, the reintroduced wolves were McKenzie Valley wolves, which might be somewhat larger than the (probably extinct) original subspecies. Wilhelm Ritter 03:08, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Many subspecies have been extirpated, some of which there are little or no remains or evidence of size; however, folklore often dictates that some of these subspecies may have been larger/smaller than the populations of today. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 171.67.129.45 (talk) 04:57, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Other Areas

I've heard the idea mentioned in books about Olympic National Park, but I don't have details. Is there anywhere else in the US it's been/is being considered? Wilhelm Ritter 03:08, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Wolves Versus Livestock

I am highly involved in agriculture and I wanted to provide anyone interested with a great resource regarding wolf reintroduction. If you go to pbs.org and search Wolves in Paradise, there is an extrememly interesting documented research project about wolves interaction with cattle. It gives research backed proof that wolves are detremental to ranching operations, but that they are also needed in a balanced ecosystem. Its a facinating film, you should watch it. October 13, 2009 9:57pm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.232.184.175 (talk) 04:59, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

This article also lacks mentioning the techniques to keep wolf packs away from livestock using social behavior elements of the predators. I saw (on TV) very promissing experiments with recordings of teritory-defense chants to make neighboring packs think the ranch is already under control of a pack. People involved in those experiments argued it worked very well. I tried to find the source back but I failed. I remember part of it took place in Northern Europe. Anybody knows where to find it? Correjon (talk) 13:57, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Additionally, there is evidence that sport hunting causes irreparable imbalances in wolf packs, leading to "lone wolf" phenomena which are more detrimental to livestock than a cohesive pack. In fact, the most significant spikes in livestock predation have occurred after large-scale hunts. I hope that somebody (I will do it if nobody else does) can demonstrate this important fact in this article, perhaps even under a "controversy" section, if necessary. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 171.67.129.45 (talk) 04:52, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Scandanavia Section

The last paragraph of the Scandanavia section is completely without citation or evidence. I tried to take out the whole paragraph, since it reads like a single, biased person's speculation about wolves, but an admin restored it. I hope that this section can be removed or substantiated with evidence (and provide counter-evidence), so as not to mislead readers into adopting an opinion as fact about wolf reintroduction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sanzoneja (talk • contribs) 12:30, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

I feel that this section requires intense revision. Even if the claims are true, there is an overt bias present. It is rife with unfounded opinions, many of which lean toward political activism. Still yet, there is a glaring lack of a professional tone. Sother (talk) 05:08, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Wyoming?

I don't think this article needs to be under Wyoming, it is certainly an international issue, and within the United States stretches beyond Wyoming, for sure. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 171.67.129.45 (talk) 04:53, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Newfoundland

Should we add anything about re-introducing wolves to Newfoundland? Thylacinus cynocephalus (talk) 00:02, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Red wolves?

The article only mentions the (cancelled) reintroduction attempt in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; however the Red Wolf article also covers the (ongoing) reintroduction into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in the same state. It seems odd to me to talk about the failed attempt but not the successful one; should info about the latter be copied here from the Red Wolf article? 141.211.198.115 (talk) 15:26, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

There's surely plenty of things this article is missing, so feel free to add whatever reliable secondary sources and material you find. I see above some sections complaining about the lack of international focus, and I recommend that its always fine to add whatever material one wishes that is relevant to the scope of the article and which is backed by reliable secondary sources.MONGO 16:12, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

A myth?

See "Is the Wolf a Real American Hero?" opinion in The New York Times by Arthur Middleton March 9, 2014 User:Fred Bauder Talk 09:02, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

"This story — that wolves fixed a broken Yellowstone by killing and frightening elk — is one of ecology’s most famous. It’s the classic example of what’s called a “trophic cascade,” and has appeared in textbooks, on National Geographic centerfolds and in this newspaper. Americans may know this story better than any other from ecology, and its grip on our imagination is one of the field’s proudest contributions to wildlife conservation. But there is a problem with the story: It’s not true." User:Fred Bauder Talk 09:02, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Public Endangerment?

The article neglects to mention the potential risks to the park visitors posed by the reintroduction of wolves. Are the national parks to be considered private game preserves or places open to the public? Equal justice under the law would require equal access to all park visitors. Those most likely to be placed at risk are women and children who are less capable of defending themselves against predators.

There are other means of preventing overgrazing by elk herds. One would be to move an overpopulation to new grazing lands inside or outside the parks with hunting permitted in these areas. Conservationist Teddy Roosevelt was an advocate of both national parks and hunting in the wilderness. There would be no need for the reintroduction of wolves to regulate populations. The use of wolves would lead to fluctuations in both the size of elk herds and that of the wolf populations themselves. If the elk population crashes then the wolves would have to migrate in search of more game. If the leave the parks they would come into conflict with ranchers and their cattle herds which are easier prey for the wolves. --Jbergquist (talk) 06:00, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Wolves in Germany

There are already some wolves in back Germany, if anyone cares to translate from the German site: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf#Wiedereinwanderung_seit_2000

131.220.35.54 (talk) 13:46, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Linkrot in Citations

Citation #11 goes to a 404 page on Scientific American's site. This is as of July 28, 2015. Searching on the article title, it has been assigned a new page but the text of the article is only available as a PDF behind a paywall.It might be good to add citations to the original scientific papers instead of or in addition to pop science explanations. Ripple, W.J., Beschta, R.L. Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction. Biol. Conserv.(2011), doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.005 Additionally, it might be good to add a counterpoint from ecologists at Colorado State. "Conservationists Crying Wolf? New Study Shows Yellowstone’s Ecosystem Dynamics More Complex than Trophic Cascade"

Please pardon me if my additions to Talk are a mess. I've always found Wikipedia's interface & etiquette difficult. I just wanted to help bring this to the attention of folks on Wikipedia who know how to edit. Spidra (talk) 02:11, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Arizona/New Mexico : "Last", not really...

@Bbreslau, thank you for adding the Arizona/New Mexico reintroduction in the article, it was much needed !

The five last known wild Mexican gray wolves were captured in 1980 in accordance with an agreement between the United States and Mexico intended to save the critically endangered subspecies. Between 1982 and 1998, a comprehensive captive-breeding program brought Mexican wolves back from the brink of extinction. Over 300 captive Mexican wolves were part of the recovery program.

However, those wolves weren't the last wild mexican wolves remaining. Some wolves remained in the Mexican States of Chihuhua and Durango. For example, Servin & Huxley (1992)

"Los datos presentados se obtuvieron de 23 mamíferos silvestres carnívoros, capturados con cepos de acero del No. 3 y lazos de cuello para una investigación con telemetría, en la Reserva de la Biosfera "La Michilía", Durango, México. Esta se localiza a 155 km al SSE de la ciudad de Durango, entre los 23230' y 23235' de latitud Norte y entre los 104' 21' Y104' 25' de longitud Oeste, en las estribaciones de la Sierra Madre Occidental. La altitud de los sitios de captura varió de los 2000 a los 2500 msnm. El clima del área de estudio es templado subhúmedo, con temperatura promedio anual de 11 C e intervalo promedio mensual de 2 C a 14 grados cen trígrados."

This included 5 carnivores species, including 4 adult males mexican wolves (LOBM1, LOBM2, LOMB3 and LOMB4) weighing 28.0, 29.0, 23.0 and 24.0 kg.

Also were they captured in 1980 ? AM002 was captured in 1977, AF0005 in 1978 (and she was pregnant).

(Archived)

• Mexican wolf publications and where you can access most of the annuals reports by navigating ([1])
• Mexican Wolf Recovery Team. 1982. Final Recovery Plan for the Mexican gray wolf ([2])

Gimly24 (talk) 22:31, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for the edit! Bbreslau (talk) 22:44, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Happy to help :) Gimly24 (talk) 22:46, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

References

Mexico

@Gimly24 Want to work on adding a section on wolves in Mexico with me? :)

I'll try to pull some sources when I can Bbreslau (talk) 12:39, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

Depends what is the topic of this section :)

I got some important laboratories reports to do this week/today for University.

I could guide you to references and papers regarding the section you count on either creating or expanding ! Gimly24 (talk) 12:41, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

That would be great! I want to do a summary of Mexican wolf reintroductions in Mexico, since we already have a section on the US population Bbreslau (talk) 12:42, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

Also, i’m less familiar with the reintroduction in Mexico as such. I’m way more familiar withe the USA reintroduction of mexican wolves than the Mexican portion. Gimly24 (talk) 12:43, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

No worries, I'll do some research and see what I can find

Good luck on your lab reports! I understand the busy schedule; I have a lot of field work for my Nubian ibex research, along with some coursework. But these Wikipedia projects are a fun side project :) Bbreslau (talk) 12:50, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

yes indeed ! Thank you :) Gimly24 (talk) 12:51, 6 March 2023 (UTC)