Carrion – It’s What’s for Dinner: Wolves Reduce the Impact of Climate Change

Humans have viewed wolves as competitors, threats to personal safety, and symbols of evil throughout history. By the early part of the 20th century, gray wolves (Canis lupus) had been eradicated from 42% of their historic range in North America (Laliberte & Ripple, 2004). In Yellowstone National Park, gray wolves were hunted to local extinction by 1926, but were reintroduced in 1995 after a decades-long process involving biologists, politicians, ranchers, and the general public. By the end of 2006, the wolf population in the park was at least 136 wolves in 13 packs (Smith et al. 2007).