People Profile: Mike Phillips, Wildlife Biologist Mike Phillips, formerly of the National Park Service, helped reintroduce wolves in Yellowstone. To succeed, Mike needed to understand the science behind this effort. He recommended repopulating the park with Canadian wolves already familiar with eating elk, the historic prey of the Yellowstone packs. Mike also addressed people's perceptions of wolves. By explaining the importance of wolves to a healthy ecosystem, he helped ease many fears. He also developed a program to remove problem wolves and to compensate ranchers whose livestock had been attacked. Mike now works with the Turner Endangered Species Fund to promote coexistence between humans and wolves.

The Story of Yellowstone Wolves

Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?

Many people fear wolves, sometimes for good reason. Wolves attack livestock, and rabid wolves pose a terrifying threat. Our fear is reflected in folk remedies, like wolfbane, for driving wolves away, and in folklore -- consider Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Three Little Pigs.

Nineteenth-century Americans saw wolves as obstacles to frontier expansion. As a result, wolves were poisoned and hunted, often with government bounties, as their habitat was claimed for ranches and farms. From coast to coast, wolf numbers plummeted. Yellowstone National Park is just one of many locations where wolves were erased from the natural landscape.

Recently we've begun to better understand the role of wolves in a healthy ecosystem. Education efforts teach people to coexist with wolves and federal laws protect them from needless persecution. Some wolf populations are now on the rebound.

Predators keep nature in balance

Predators, including wild canines, are key to natural environmental balance. When predators disappear, prey populations skyrocket, sometimes with disastrous results. This happened in Yellowstone National Park when the native wolves were eliminated through hunting and persecution.

Without wolves to prey on elk, elk populations expanded. The overabundant elk overgrazed young aspen trees, turning forests into pasture. Coyotes eventually moved into Yellowstone's former wolf territories. The coyotes preyed on foxes, driving fox numbers down. This allowed rodent populations to go up. The elimination of a single species, the wolf, changed the delicate balance of the entire park ecosystem. Similar imbalances have been seen in other areas where wolf populations have been eliminated. You can see this in action by trying out the Yellowstone Eco-Simulator.

Reintroduction efforts by private and government groups have resulted in wolves being successfully reintroduced in parts of Idaho, Arizona and Yellowstone National Park. Today Yellowstone is home to over 160 wolves, in 12 or more packs, that once again stalk elk in their natural predator-prey relationship. Yellowstone isn't the only place wolves are being brought back into their native habitat. In both Idaho and Arizona, Native Americans are involved in wolf recovery efforts.

Online Activity Try out the Yellowstone Eco-Simulator involving wolves, elk, and vegetation. Can you create a balanced ecosystem?

Internet Links Yellowstone Wolf Restoration: The National Park Service's official website of Yellowstone National Park provides general information on the Wolf Restoration Project as well as specific information on the different Yellowstone wolf packs. Nova Online: Wild Wolves: This NOVA site explores the ancient connections between wolves and dogs and includes an interview with Ed Bangs, the Wolf Recovery Coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. National Wildlife Federation: Wolves: This National Wildlife Federation site provides information about wolf biology, a history of the decline of wolf populations, current reintroduction efforts and information on how you can help wolves. Children's Book Once a Wolf: How wildlife biologists fought to bring back the gray wolf By Stephen R. Swinburne Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999 ISBN: 0-395-89827-7 Follow the troubled history of humans and wolves up through current efforts to bring wolves back to Yellowstone National Park.