The History of The Wolf by Forest Ostrander (good ebook reader .TXT) 📖

The Beginning

The moment the first wolf faced its fear and stepped into the circle of light cast by man's fire has been lost in time. In that now obscure moment, the history of man and wolf was forever changed. Since the moment wolf first trusted man, and man first trusted wolf, many things have changed. For centuries, the indigenous peoples of the Americas depicted the wolf in their art and stories. Most often, the painting or story displayed wolf and human joined as one powerful creature. In some legends, the wolf is given healing powers and in others the wolf saved the people from the great flood. Many Native Americans believed in man’s brotherhood with the wolf.

Not so long ago, wolves roamed nearly all of the United States. Between 250,000 and 500,000 wild wolves lived in harmony with Native Americans and the rest of the ecosystem.

Wolves are legendary because of their spine-tingling howl, which they use to communicate. A lone wolf howls to attract the attention of his pack, while communal howls may send territorial messages from one pack to another. Some howls are confrontational. Much like barking domestic dogs, wolves may simply begin howling because a nearby wolf has already begun.

Wolves are the largest members of the dog family. Adaptable gray wolves are by far the most common and were once found all over the Northern Hemisphere. But wolves and humans have a long adversarial history. Though they almost never attack humans, wolves are considered one of the animal world's most fearsome natural villains. They do attack domestic animals, and countless wolves have been shot, trapped, and poisoned because of this tendency.

In the lower 48 states, gray wolves were hunted to near extinction, though some populations survived and others have since been reintroduced. Few gray wolves survive in Europe, though many live in Alaska, Canada, and Asia.

Red wolves live in the southeastern United States, where they are endangered. These animals actually became extinct in the wild in 1980. Scientists established a breeding program with a small number of captive red wolves and have reintroduced the animal to North Carolina. Today, perhaps 100 red wolves survive in the wild.

The maned wolf, a distant relative of the more familiar gray and red wolves, lives in South America. Physically, this animal resembles a large, red fox more than its wolf relatives.

Wolves live and hunt in packs of around six to ten animals. They are known to roam large distances, perhaps 12 miles (20 kilometers) in a single day. These social animals cooperate on their preferred prey—large animals such as deer, elk, and moose. When they are successful, wolves do not eat in moderation. A single animal can consume 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of meat at a sitting. Wolves also eat smaller mammals, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, and fruit.

Wolf packs are established according to a strict hierarchy, with a dominant male at the top and his mate not far behind. Usually this male and female are the only animals of the pack to breed. All of a pack's adults help to care for young pups by bringing them food and watching them while others hunt.

Gray wolves once populated large portions of North America, Europe, and Asia, but were hunted to near extinction. Their numbers have rebounded due to conservation and reintroduction efforts.

Scientific name: Canis lupus Height: 80 – 85 cm (Adult, At Shoulder) Rank: Species Higher classification: Canis Lower classifications: Labrador wolf, Manitoba wolf, Eastern wolf, Bernard's wolf, Greenland wolf, Mogollon mountain wolf, Arctic wolf, Northern Rocky Mountains wolf, Gregory's wolf, Texas wolf, Florida black wolf, Mackenzie River wolf, Alaskan tundra wolf, Eurasian wolf, Indian Wolf, Northwestern wolf, Steppe wolf, Honshu wolf, Alexander Archipelago wolf, Baffin Island wolf, British Columbia wolf, Southern Rocky Mountains wolf, Tundra wolf, Red wolf, Vancouver Island wolf, Kenai Peninsula wolf, Cascade mountain wolf, Canis lupus dingo, Arabian wolf, Dog, Yukon wolf, Great Plains wolf, Newfoundland wolf, Hokkaido wolf, Hudson Bay wolf, Tibetan wolf, Mexican wolfMore Mass: 36 – 38.5 kg (Female, Adult), 0.3 – 0.5 kg (Newborn), 43 – 45 kg (Male, Adult) Speed: 50 – 60 km/h (Running), 8 – 9 km/h (Loping pace)

Historically, hundreds of thousands of wolves roamed wild throughout North America. During the 19th and 20th centuries, as the human population grew, people began to compete with wolves for game and habitat. Wolves were also viewed as pests and vermin and were slaughtered by the thousands. As a result, wolves virtually disappeared from the American west. 

Wolves play a significant role in ecosystem health. They help keep large herd animal populations in check, which can benefit numerous other plant and animal species. The carcasses of their prey also help to  redistribute nutrients and provide food for other wildlife species, most notably other scavengers. Indeed, scientists are just beginning to understand the full positive ripple effects that large predators contribute in nature. 

Today, wolves can be found in many different regions of the United States. In some regions, like the Great Lakes district, wolves are thriving and people in the towns and cities near them have accepted them as part of the wild landscape. However, in other regions, wolves are facing serious threats to their existence. Click the links at right to see the specific threats facing the different populations around the country.

For decades, Defenders has been a leader in promoting wolf recovery throughout their natural ranges. We were one of the driving forces behind their successful reintroduction in 1995 and 1996 into the Northern Rockies and greater Yellowstone region and led the way to reintroduce wolves to the Southwest in 1998. Unfortunately, wolves today continue to face threats to their survival and Defenders continues to work on the ground, in the courts, and in state and federal legislatures to give America's wolves a lasting future.

Persecution and Extermination - 1960’s

Over a hundred years ago, people around the world began waging a war against the wolf. The U.S. government implemented a nationwide policy of wolf control. Wolves were seen as pests that posed a threat to the continued safety and prosperity of the American people. Theodore Roosevelt, a man widely known for his environmental activism, declared the wolf as "the beast of waste and destruction" and called for its eradication. Their skulls and skins were piled high for victory photographs and to claim the bounties. Most believed they served God and the United States by ridding the countryside of such vermin. The wolf is the only species to be deliberately driven to the brink of extinction by humans.

Through a systematic extermination of every wolf to be found, the US government won its battle against nature. By 1960, the once populous gray wolf was essentially extinct throughout its former range. The last 300 wolves in the lower 48 states roamed the deep woods of upper Michigan and Minnesota, only surviving by running and hiding at the first sign of humans.

Slow Natural Recovery - 1970’s

Even though the official war against the wolf had ended in the rest of the US shortly after 1960, hunters still searched for the few elusive remnant wolves remaining in the Great Lakes' region. Despite hunters' best efforts, the northern timber wolves held their ground and actually began to make a slight comeback. With the cover of a vast, dense forest and the immigration of dispersing wolves from Canada, Michigan and Wisconsin’s wolves persevered. By 1970, there were a few reports of wolf sightings father from the Canadian border than there had been in over a decade. The last of America's wild wolves were starting to win some public interest and concern... and talk of the Endangered Species List had just begun.

At the same time, the last of the Mexican grey wolves (a subspecies of gray wolf) were disappearing. Smaller than the typical gray wolf, the Mexican gray is usually sandy colored, lives in a small pack and is better adapted to its desert surroundings. They had already disappeared from the American South West by 1970, and the few living in Mexico were under serious attack.

The Magic Pack - 1980’s

After the monumental declaration that the gray wolf was protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1974, wolf recovery became possible in new areas. The public's interest