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Drawing created by Tom
Marcotte
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Public
Programs every Saturday at 2pm.
Write or call:
California Wolf Center,
P.O. Box 1389
Julian, California 92036
Phone:
(619)234-WOLF
Email:
info@californiawolfcenter.org
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We believe that the more you learn about the real wolf - the better the decisions you can make in support of the wolf's survival in the wild.
Wolves once roamed North America in countless numbers. Despite their important ecological role, and posing no real threat to humans, wolves were hunted nearly to extinction in the lower 48 United States. Today in the U.S., the haunting melody of a howling wolf pack is heard in only a handful of states as they have been exterminated from 95% of their historic range. With the help of concerned citizens, we are hoping to bring the wolf back to the wild in several states across the country.
Wolves are intelligent shy creatures who will generally avoid contact with humans. By preying preferentially on weak, diseased and injured animals, wolves enhance the overall strength of ungulates, such as moose, caribou, elk, and deer populations. By understanding the wolf, we can learn how humans can co-exist with other life forms. Ultimately, we can change the way we see ourselves as not so much conquerors but partners in our environment.
Today, wolves recovering in the Northern Rockies are known as the "engineers of biodiversity." Time Magazine Jan.'98, reports, "... An ecosystem stripped of the wolf doesn't simply become more peaceable; rather, it becomes flabby and unbalanced. With the dominant predator gone, the next biggest hunter-typically the coyote-assumes the top spot. As the coyote population explodes, the populations of foxes, badgers and martens, which compete with coyotes for rodents and other small game, dwindle. Large prey such as elk, which were once brought down by wolves, begin to multiply excessively, stripping vegetation from highlands, and denuding riparian habitat of valuable stream side cover such as aspen and willow. And with few elk carcasses to be found, scavengers like magpies, ravens and grizzly bears, accustomed to dining on scraps from wolf kills, have to scrounge elsewhere for protein. "The wolf is a keystone species," says Yellowstone biologist Douglas Smith. "You remove it and the effects cascade down to the grasses."
In Yellowstone, that cascade effect has long been felt. Since the 1930s, wildlife managers have watched in dismay as the park's ecosystem-once well balanced between predator and prey-grew more and more bottom-heavy. Finally, in the 1970s, they decided to do something about it. Working through the then new Endangered Species Act, they proposed a plan under which wolves would be imported from Canada to reclaim their place in the ecosystem. Twenty years later, the plan was approved, and wolves were trucked from across the border-31 to Yellowstone and 35 to Idaho.
The impact is now apparent. Around Yellowstone, elk kills are common, a welcome development for park managers hoping to bring that animal's population back to manageable levels, and the elk themselves have become more wary and less apt to stay in any one place for long periods of time. Wolves often eat only about 200 pounds of meat on a 500 pound kill, leaving plenty for other animals to scavenge. Wolf packs also appear to have killed as many as half the coyotes in at least two areas of the park, opening up ecological breathing room for foxes and other species. Even riparian and highland vegetation, no longer chewed up by hungry elk, is expected to start making a comeback. Recently, some riparian areas are beginning to see the signs of this recovery, and so much so that the beaver is being reintroduced into long absent valleys. "We're seeing beneficial effects from the top down," says Robert Crabtree, a wildlife ecologist. "Who knows how far it will go?"
Wolves in California?
In discussing the history of wolves in the southwestern United States, Brown (1984) reported that despite an abundance of what appear to be suitable habitats; virtually no wolves have been seen in California. Schmidt (1991), however, came to a different conclusion based on his review of historical records. He found clear records from 1750 to 1850 indicating that wolves were present in the Coastal Range from San Diego to Sacramento when these areas were first being explored and settled. From 1850-1900, wolves were seen in Shasta County and in the central Sierra Nevada. By the middle of the 1920's wolves seem to have disappeared from California. One was trapped in San Bernardino County in 1922. Another, the last to be captured in the state, was trapped in Lassen County in 1924. Although the US Forest Service estimated that some 50 wolves existed in the Lassen, Tahoe, Eldorado, Stanislaus, Angeles, and Rouge River National Forests as recently as 1937, there was little evidence that any wolves were actually present. Schmidt concluded that all of the wolves trapped in recent years have been ones released from captivity.
In 1984, Schmidt noted that there were two important reasons for trying to determine the past distribution of wolves in California. First, the possibility of reintroducing wolves into the state has frequently been discussed, and information about their historical range could be useful in this debate. A feasibility study for the restoration of the wolf to the Klamath-Siskiyou region of north-central California is being funded by Defenders of Wildlife and conducted by the Conservation Biology Institute. Second, extirpation of the wolf may have had an important impact on the ecosystems from which they were eliminated, which might help to explain the current distribution of species such as elk, deer, and coyotes. Reintroduction of wolves might be expected to move those populations towards their historic levels.
Today, there is another reason for interest in the wolf's former range. Wolves from nearby Idaho have recently been seen in Oregon, suggesting a natural dispersal route that could extend into California, Nevada, and neighboring states. The current wolf reclassification plan proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would remove protection from wolves that enter California, and exclude the state from federal wolf recovery efforts. With the help of concerned citizens, we are hoping to bring the wolf back to the wild in several states across the country.
For more information about wolves and wildlife see excellent resources on our Links page.
