On Wolves

Wolves are one of my favorite animals, along with horses, dolphins, sea otters, and pandas. I'm a big fan of cute, cuddly mammals in general. I think people misunderstand wolves and are afraid of them unnecessarily.

When I was in college, I used to get into arguments with my boyfriend-at-the-time's roommate. We argued about a lot of different things, actually. He was a rancher from Twin Bridges, and had quite stereotypical views on ranching and very conservative views on relationships. He definitely did not like wolves because he blamed them for killing livestock. (Sidenote: that guy and I actually got along better after I stopped dating the boyfriend)

I think a lot of people, especially in the mountain states, assume that wolves will kill livestock indescriminately as a fact. No one ever tried to back this "fact" up with proof. Why would they? "Everyone" knows that's what wolves do. Idiots.

Defenders of Wildlife compiled some interesting data on livestock losses and wolves. Their source is the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which I would hypothesize is a good source for this kind of data. Also, Defenders of Wildlife will compensate ranchers for verified livestock losses to wolves.

As a keystone species, wolves are very important to maintaining healthy ecosystems. When reintroduced to Yellowstone, many hunters felt that wolves would devestate the food chain. In reality, the reintroduced wolves have helped to rebalance it.

One of my favorite childhood stories is White Fang, by Jack London.