Eradication of Wolves

Today I decided to focus a bit more on the eradication of wolves in the early 19^th and 20^th centuries. I have also found a video over the opinions of wolf reintroduction into the Wyoming area.

According to the article in PBS, when settlers first came to America they brought with them a bounty of livestock that would often graze on the outskirts of settlements where they were less protected. There the livestock would be hunted by wolves and the colonists started becoming upset upon discovering this. In order to protect their livestock they began killing the wolves. They would set traps for the wolves and would make it a sport to see how many wolves they could kill. In Yellowstone the baiting and killing of wolves was becoming quite popular, but left devastating effects on the overall population (PBS:Wolf Wars). Oftentimes, the trappers would lace carcasses with strychnine poison, but this also affected the other animals that scavenged off the carcasses. As large numbers of the wolves prey were killed by humans the wolves were turning more to livestock. In response to this “bounties” were put on each wolf carcass brought in ranging from $20-$50 per wolf. Government programs  such as the U.S Bureau of Biological Survey were recruited by stockowners to look at the devastation that the wolves had caused which set extermination plans into motion. The following quote illustrates the toll that was placed on the wolf populations: “More than 3,849 wolves have been destroyed by the predatory animal work of the Department and its cooperators since the work was organized in 1915” (PBS: Wolf Wars). It wasn’t until the 1960s that people realized wolves were beneficial to the ecosystem and needed to be restored. In 1995 and 1996 wolves from Canada were brought in, but one was killed by a hunter. The locals appreciated the hunter and called his act one of heroism (PBS: Wolf Wars).

The other source I reviewed was a short video clip focused on the introduction of wolves to Wyoming, and the feelings the ranchers had. In the beginning the video starts off with a couple of ranchers who say that since the introduction of wolves in 1996 their average number of deaths of livestock increased. They go on to say that they have lost six dogs, a foal, a couple of saddle horses, and numerous cattle to the wolves. There is also a biologist that talks about the wolves introduction back into an ecosystem they had been eradicated from. The strongest point in this video that stuck out to me is when the female rancher said “I don’t blame the wolves, I blame the people that brought them here. The wolves do only what wolves do, but they are the ones that have to pay the price.” (Wyoming Wolf Wars: Debate Over Delisting Wolves "video below") 

What I question is why was it necessary to kill all the wolves? How has a hatred been so strong for so many years that people cheer when a wolf is killed illegally?Also, I wonder what the actual numbers of the killings were, and how many wolves died because of other reasons, starvation, disease etc? How much of these secondary deaths were attributed to the mass slaughters of buffalo and other animals by settlers in the 19^th century? I still feel a sense of wonder about the strong hate that people have for these creatures. Hopefully, with further exploration I can learn more not only about these creatures themselves, but what inspired such a negative opinion. I think that the sources are important to my understanding of wolves because they portray important opinions and present the facts of what happened to these animals. The PBS source is informational about the history of the wolves elimination from our society. The second source is more subjective in its focus on wolf reintroduction in Wyoming, but is still important because it clearly shows the opinions of two parties -- ranchers and biologists.