Word: wolfing
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Conservationists have long bemoaned the absence of the wolf in the otherwise complete Yellowstone ecosystem. Extending from northwestern Wyoming into southern Montana and Idaho, it is the largest expanse of virtually unspoiled wilderness in the Lower 48 states. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 requires the U.S. government to take steps to bring back the wolf, but a succession of plans to reintroduce the animal to Yellowstone and other parts of the West have become mired in controversy. Even though a majority of Westerners favor the return of wolves, formidable opposition comes from local ranchers and hunting outfitters who fear...
Surprisingly, even some wolf supporters were taken aback at the possibility that the animal is engineering its own comeback. They are reacting as if werewolves, not gray wolves, have suddenly appeared. Officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for example, fear that their long-discussed plans to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone could become sidetracked. The Endangered Species Act would require the Federal Government to protect wild wolves from hunters and ranchers, and could prohibit the reintroduction of other wolves. Conservationists are worried that there will be too few immigrant animals to start a thriving population, and that a complacent...
...confirm or refute the evidence of the wolves' return. So the painstaking examination of the animal killed last month is beginning to resemble the autopsy of a slain President. Forensic tests to examine wear of the beast's paws and teeth support the notion that it is a wild wolf. Preliminary analysis of the skull is inconclusive. Now researchers are trying to match the animal's genetic material with that of known populations of wolves...
Unfortunately, no single test can rule out the presence of dog genes. For instance, one scientist studying the remains argues that skull analysis requires the examination of many skulls of the same age and sex; in the case of an endangered species like the wolf, it could take years to accumulate a big enough sample. Concludes John Varley, the chief of research at Yellowstone National Park: "The best we can hope for is 80% certainty, and we are going to have to make a decision based on that...
Even if the biologists decide that the animal is a wolf, a crucial question remains: Was it a lone sojourner and thus of no great importance, or a member of a group that might colonize the park? A pack could have established itself if at least one male and one female migrated from the north and then mated in Yellowstone...