The Extinction of the Wolves of Yellowstone
Entry of Humans
Humans are the reason for the extinction of the Gray Wolf in Yellowstone and nearly all of North America. Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 from this time until 1933 the National Park Service (NPS) practiced predator control. The ending of this policy came too late for the gray wolf as the last pack in Yellowstone was gone by the mid 1930’s.
Reason for Extinction
The reason for the extinction of the wolf from most of North America was the fear of wolves and greed. The fear of the effect that they could and sometimes did have on livestock. This fear and the desire for larger tracts of grazing land for livestock lead to a government funded extermination campaign against the wolf. Wolves used to roam all of the lower 48 states but by the early 20th century they were all gone, except a small population in Minnesota and Michigan.
Method of Extinction
The government launched an extensive predator control program, this combined with the magnified bounties on wolves, prey loss and habitat degradation lead to declining and extinction for the gray wolf.
Timeline of Extiction
In the not distant past wolves and native americans lived in harmony with wolves covering nearly every corner of what is now the United States of America. Over a hundred years ago the government began a nationwide policy of wolf control. Theodore Roosevelt, a man known for acts of environmental activism called for their destruction. By the 1960s the wolf was forced into a tiny corner of Michigan and Minnesota.