Christine A. Elmore
So what are people doing to help the wolf? What can we do? That will be the subject of this last section. I will use three informational texts that will explain the reintroduction of the wolf into Yellowstone Park as well as the crucial role the wolf plays in our ecosystem.
In 1926, Yellowstone National Park saw its last official kill of gray wolves. These animals were absent from the park for 70 years. Then, in 1996, the National Park Services began the reintroduction of these wolves into Yellowstone. After six years, 21 new packs of wolves roamed the countryside. The results have been a healthy ecosystem where the elk population no longer over-graze the land. Young trees and shrubs, long decimated by elk, are now growing in greater numbers along the streams which in turn provide a better home for beaver, fish, birds and bears. But the whole issue of wolf introduction remains a controversial one. Many farmers, who are worried for the safety of their livestock, continue to vehemently oppose wolf recovery initiatives like this one.
As this unit is being written the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for wolves across nearly the entire 48 states. Although the past 30 years have seen significant successes in wolf recovery efforts in the Northern Rockies and the western Great Lake states, there remain other areas where they have yet to recover, including in the Pacific Northwest, northern California, the Northeast and the southern Rockies. If wolf regulation is put in the hands of individual states, the allowance of unregulated hunting and killing of wolves, as has happened in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, will likely occur. As we contemplate this proposal, let us consider the following quotation from Grambo in her previously mentioned book: "After so many centuries together, many filled with fear and hatred on our part, where does the human-wolf relationship stand now? And, more importantly, where do we go from here?" (p. 147)
There is no question that farmers and ranchers have very legitimate concerns about managing wolf populations so that their animals do not come to any harm. In my readings I have found that there are a number of ways to help keep wolves from killing livestock before resorting to lethal predator control:
-- Have a shepherd and guard dogs monitor livestock, especially sheep and goats who are more vulnerable to attack by wolves than cattle.
-- Bring livestock into an enclosed place at night.
-- Move grazing pastures away from wolf dens.
-- Have calving and lambing occur in protected conditions near inhabited areas.
-- Wait for calves and lambs to grow in size and stamina before sending them out to pasture.
-- Use electric fences (a costly alternative).
-- Create a system where farmers and ranchers are fairly compensated for loss of livestock due to wolf attacks.
I plan to put this question to my students:
How can farmers and ranchers stop wolves from killing their livestock?
In our discussion I will ask them to suggest some other ideas that might be effective in managing wolves. Following this, I plan to take a look at these complex issues through the use of some excellent resources that use compelling but simplified text and engaging pictures to explain to children why we should not kill wolves. I will begin our exploration with the question:
What do you think happens if wolves no longer lived in a place?
After considering possible results as suggested by students I will read the book,
What If There Were No Gray Wolves?
by Suzanne Slade. This book presents a very simplified view of what results when a key species becomes extinct in an ecosystem. Gray wolves are presented at the top of the food chain and their prey include rabbits, beavers, moose, elk, bison and deer. If no longer hunted by wolves, these animals would grow in large numbers and eat more and more of the plant life in the forest which, in turn, would result in loss of homes for birds, squirrels and moose. These animals would begin to starve and would also become easy prey for other meat-eating animals. Eventually deer would run out of food and would end up disappearing just like the smaller animals had. Other predators like owls, coyotes and foxes would no longer have access to an adequate food supply. The book ends bleakly with the statement: "Without Gray Wolves, temperate forests would become quiet, empty places" (Slade, p. 18). What is the author's message? We need wolves to help maintain the balance of nature within an ecosystem.
A second book,
Wolf Island
by Celia Godkin also effectively fosters ecological awareness. Written in narrative form and based on a true event, this book recounts what happens after a family of Canadian wolves leaves the island they had inhabited after boarding a raft and floating away from their home. Similar to the results in the aforementioned book, the deer population increases and eats so much of the plant life that rabbits and mice have fewer offspring and foxes and owls have less prey. Fortunately, the wolves eventually return and the habitat is restored. To track and better see the cause-effect relationship in an ecosystem I will record the events on a graphic organizer made up of five boxes connected by arrows to show the impact of one event on another. The facts I will insert are:
-- Wolves no longer live in the habitat.
-- Deer grow in large numbers
-- Deer eat more and more of the plant life. Land becomes stripped of vegetation.
-- Smaller animals lose their homes and protection. Larger animals no longer have enough to eat either. Both began to die off.
-- Habitat becomes quiet and empty.
A third book,
Gray Wolves: Return to Yellowstone,
by Meish Goldish is an informational text for children that gives an engaging and accurate account of how scientists devised and implemented the reintroduction of wolves to this nationally known park. It speaks of the unified effort with which many wolf advocates took on this project and saw it through with beneficial results for both the wolves and the ecosystem. In this book man is helping wolf instead of man killing wolf.
A fourth book,
The Wolves Are Back,
by Jean Craighead George celebrates the return of the gray wolf to Yellowstone through vividly colored illustrations and text written in a very poetic style. A fifth book,
When The Wolves Returned,
by Dorothy Hinsaw Patent features beautiful photographs of wildlife in Yellowstone and emphasizes the extent to which this habitat was at risk until the wolves returned. All of these books will present my first-graders with a clear picture of a viable way that wolves can be reintroduced into our environment.
One way to become an advocate for wolves is to join Wolf Haven International which offers a classroom the wolf adoption option which includes a picture and biography of the selected wolf along with an issue of their magazine,
Wolf Tracks,
and other educational handouts. What's appealing about this organization and program is that they try to personalize the experience for children so that they are able to learn more about the wolf that they have adopted.
Becoming a wolf-advocate involves the very important task of informing others and this could be done school-wide where my students would present their reports to individual classes, lend their student-made books to our school library to reach a larger audience and conduct a 'wolf fair' with tables for the school population to visit to learn more about these admirable and majestic creatures so like our human families and society in the way they organize their activities.