By SCOTT KOLB
Staff writer
People packed into Coe Auditorium on Thursday to learn about wolves from wildlife biologist Dr. Doug Smith.
The talk entitled, “The Wolves of Yellowstone: The First 20 Years” was the October installment of the Lunchtime Expedition Series at the Draper Museum of Natural History in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
Smith was one of the key figures in the re-introduction of the wolf to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. He discussed wolf population dynamics, predator-prey relationships, effects of the wolves’ presence on ecosystems and wolf management in the Park.
“We have been at war with this creature for 10,000 years,” Smith said. “They’re just like any other creature, so I sometimes wonder what’s the big deal?”
Wolves have been mythologized and vilified by humans for centuries, but they are just another species trying to make a living on this planet. Man exterminated wolves from Yellowstone in the early part of the 20th century and then, decided to bring them back.
“There’s still a debate about re-introduction,” Smith said. “Some people argue they would’ve migrated into the area on their own.”
Tourists now flock to the Park by the millions to see wolves. But because wolves kill other animals, there are problems in regards to livestock on ranches surrounding the Park.
Human hunters compete with wolves for big game and this may be the prime reason the animals have been portrayed as “evil,” Smith said.
Despite the revulsion some have about their killing techniques, the wolf is still admired by others. Thousands of years ago, mankind took the wolf into his home and it became the domesticated dog, which is commonly called, “man’s best friend,” Smith said.
Smith added there are three ways to experience wolves. The biologist prefers the auditory experience.
“See it, see sign (tracks) or hear it,” Smith said. “Hearing a wolf howl in the middle of the night still excites me after 30 years of study.”
That howl likely unnerved ancient hunters. This imbued sense of dread about the wolf continued into modern times.
“The single most important reason for wolf recovery is a change in human attitudes,” Smith said. “Having wolves on the outskirts of Cody would’ve been unthinkable 50-60 years ago, but times have changed.”
Without the presence of this apex predator, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was no longer intact. Elk herds grew in large numbers and began to negatively impact the landscape in the Park.
By the 1990s, the federal government decided to intervene. At that point, the State of Minnesota was the only place in the lower 48 where wolves were never listed as an endangered species.
Wolf re-introduction was met with hostility by many, but it still took place. On the big screen behind the podium, Smith put up a picture of then Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt carrying the first wolves back into the park.
The wolf population is closely monitored by scientists and Smith devotes time to darting the animals from helicopters so he can check their health and put radio collars on them to follow their movements.
Smith has learned from his studies that wolves’ existence is precarious. They don’t live nearly as long as bears and many die in the hunt. The average lifespan is only five years, and 60 percent of their deaths are from other wolves. They are ferociously territorial animals. Another problem is they have become somewhat used to the presence of people in the Park and this has led to some wolves getting run over by cars.
Wolf re-introduction, the migratory return of cougars and the increase in population of grizzly bears have changed the face of the Park, Smith said. Geologic features may be the reason the Park was first established, but the presence of large predators and the chance to see them in a natural setting is why tourists now drive there from all over the country.
“Yellowstone National Park is as predator-rich as anytime in history,” he said. “Yellowstone is the best place in the world to see wolves.”