Removal of gray wolves from US West wreaked havoc on ecosystem: Study

The Hill ^ | 06/19/2024 | SHARON UDASIN

[ChicagoConservative27]

The historic removal of gray wolves from the U.S. West facilitated the rise of mid-ranking predators across the region, wreaking havoc on historical ecosystem dynamics, a new study has found.

Yet just how much havoc — both to their immediate prey and much farther down the line — remains unclear due to a dearth of data, according to the study, published Wednesday in BioScience.

The disappearance of wolves particularly led to a spike in elk populations, which then damaged plant communities through overgrazing, per the study. Also of note was an upswing in medium-sized carnivores like coyotes that threaten smaller animals.

“Various national parks in the western United States, which are considered the crown jewels of American wilderness, lack their apex predators, resulting in them being shadows of their supposed ecological integrity,” the authors stated.

[ChicagoConservative27]

I wonder what idiot removed them in the first place

[V_TWIN]

“I wonder what idiot removed them in the first place”

Since the article conveniently fails to mention it I have good idea who it was

[BipolarBob]

A nameless faceless non-elected bureaucrat who can’t be fired.

[DoodleBob]

Skinner: Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.
Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?
Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

[Billthedrill]

Yet just how much havoc — both to their immediate prey and much farther down the line — remains unclear due to a dearth of data, according to the study, published Wednesday in BioScience.

Conclusions in the absence of data aren't science.

[rktman]

They’re just like Fluffy and Rascal(🐩🐕). Playful little pups. 🤔

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

Ordinarily I’d read an article with a title like that. But since it’s The Hill and likely to be wrong....

[Henchster]

Yet just how much havoc — both to their immediate prey and much farther down the line — remains unclear due to a dearth of data, according to the study

So, their whole "study" is nothing more than a data-less pile of liberal fantasies.

[Dr. Sivana]

Can’t we just expand Elk Season?

[DesertRhino]

Utterly retarded. An explosion of elk has overgrazed the west? Bullcrap. There were 60 million buffalo out there.
Kinda nice to be able to go into large parts of the west and not need to worry about a wolfpack at night or grizzly bear attacks.

But some university chick will be along to tell us how we can reverently worship the deadly animals. This is right up there with morons not killing rattlers.

[GaryCrow]

The “idiot” who removed them were the settlers that wanted to live in the west. It’s kind of hard to raise the livestock needed to live on farmsteads with wolves running all over the place. This article is from The Hill which is of course going to take the greenie perspective. If you wanted to settle the west then wolves had to be removed, they’re incompatible with higher density human habitation. The fact that it would change the predator/prey relationship was a given. How many bison do you see today in downtown L.A. or Denver? Same thing, if you want people to live there then some animals have to be removed.

[Flag_This]

We should test the hypothesis by releasing a few dozen packs of gray wolves in DC. Once we’ve amassed some data, we can figure out what to do next.

[hanamizu]

I wonder what idiot removed them in the first place

---

Farmers and ranchers who were tired of their flocks/herds being prey to wolves.

It’s fascinating to me that people wanting to see dangerous predators reintroduced into the wild rarely want to see them brought to their neighborhoods.

I’m sure that back in the day rattlesnakes lived on Manhattan Island and played a large role in the local ecosystem. They should be brought back.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“ I wonder what idiot removed them in the first place”

Hmm , settler’s and ranchers in the 1800’s.
For good reason

[markman46]

Anyone know just what a plant community is??

[skinny old man]

They put the wolvesON the protected list,and re established them to their former range,to the shagrinof live stock owners.

[z3n]

"...they’re incompatible with higher density human habitation."

~~~

Well, for leftists, there in lies the problem.

[larrytown]

Does anyone know what reading is?

Looking at the ‘study’ mentioned in this Hill article makes it appear to be a ‘duh’ notion, basically setting up a “need” for more research funding.

The unmentioned issue with ‘elk overpopulation’ has less to do with lack of wolves than state wildlife agencies viewing them as their own personal cash-crop, demanding extortionary fees for out-of-state hunters. They’d rather cull than reduce the income stream.

[CommerceComet]

With reintroduction of wolves to areas where they were eradicated, we are seeing why our forefathers got rid of them to begin with.

Given the wolf populations in Canada and Alaska, wolves being rare in their previous ranges in the continental US does not threaten their existence.

[Vaduz]

Agree

Next they will report the disappearance of rabbits too send more money.