Word: parkes
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...clear just when the wolves in Yellowstone National Park sense that the helicopters are coming, but with their sharp eyes and keen hearing it's certain they notice them fast. Last week one of the choppers suddenly appeared, flying low over a meadow where 14 gray wolves were bedding down in the crusty snow. The wolves immediately scattered, but not so fast that a crew member in the helicopter wasn't able to take aim with a modified rifle and fire a net over one of them. As the large pup thrashed in the net, another man leaped...
...gray wolves, they are among the first of their species to tread the snows of Yellowstone in 65 years. Hunted almost out of existence in the western U.S., gray wolves have been making a triumphant comeback since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced two groups into the park's 2.2 million acres and into another large patch of wilderness in nearby Idaho. In the three years since the animals' release, conservationists have nursed the nascent packs along in a program that is being lauded as one of the most successful wildlife projects of all time...
...Yellowstone that cascade has long been felt, and 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...
...impact is now apparent. Around Yellowstone, elk kills are more common, a welcome development for park managers hoping to bring that animal's population back to manageable levels. The wolves often eat only 200 lbs. of the meat on a 500-lb. animal they fell, 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 highland vegetation, no longer chewed up by hungry elk, is expected to start making a comeback...
Some people are worried that it has already gone too far. Conservationists knew that a few wolves would inevitably wander off the grounds of the park, find their way to farms and attack livestock; since 1995, seven head of cattle and 84 sheep have been killed this way. The Defenders of Wildlife set up a fund to compensate owners for their losses, and to date the group has paid out more than $21,000. But money isn't the only issue. "There's also the stress of not knowing if wolves are in the area and when they'll strike...