Fast Facts: The Gray Wolf -- [part of PBS series titled] Dancing With Wolves - Public Broadcasting System (PBS)

 

 

 

(Note: Seriously beware the extensive Language Deception. It's everywhere. There is NO MENTION of the sport killing that wolves enjoy and no photos in the 'slide show' that show wolves as the killing machines they are. The tragedy of the loosing upon people of large predators -- whether it be bears, cougars, wolverines, wolves, etc., is the two-legged 'introducers' with an agenda to accomplish. This is about property rights, because the presence of such large predators on private and federal property -- along with the admonition and false assertion that this NON-NATIVE, 'habituated' and often hand-raised seed stock predator is 'endangered' and must not be dealt with in order to protect life and property -- means that many people have been duped into thinking 'endangered.' In reality, it is people and property rights -- i.e., freedom -- that is being put directly in harm's way and targeted for extinction by such an agenda. Recreationists, you are in direct danger from this agenda, as you recreate in remote areas where the killing fields have been stocked with large predators. Ranchers, farmers, and homeowners, when the wild prey runs out, your livestock, pets and children, and yes, even adult people, will be viewed by large predators and their introducers as mere menu items.)

 

 

 

August 18, 2006

 

 

 

 

NOW / PBS

 

 

 

More From This Week: About the Show http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/index.html | Interview: Making Room for Wolves http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/yellowstone-wolves.html | Interview: A Rancher's View http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/wolves-ranchers.html | Slideshow: Nature and Survival in Yellowstone [Javascript; opens in new window] | Fast Facts: The Gray Wolf http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/gray-wolf-facts.html 

 

 

Contacting PBS: 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a comment about the 'journalistic integrity' http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/aboutpbs_standards.html of a PBS program: http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/ Michael Getler http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/biography.html 703-739-5290 or email: http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/feedback.html

 

 

 

Status

 

 

 

  • Wolves were once abundant and distributed over much of North America, Eurasia, and the Middle East.

  • Native Americans were awed by the power and stealth of the wolf, while European settlers -- who brought over their folk tales of the "big bad wolf" -- feared the animal. This fear, combined with the belief that wolves caused widespread livestock losses, led to their near extinction in the lower 48 states in the early half of the 20th century.

  • The wolf is the ancestor of the domestic dog.

  • Wolves are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in the contiguous United States.

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    http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/images/wolf-population-historic.jpg 

     

     

     

     

     

    http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/images/wolf-population-listed.jpg 

     

    Reintroduction

     

    • Sixty-six wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and the wilderness of central Idaho in 1995 and 1996. There are now enough wolves to warrant removal from the list of endangered species in the states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

    • Some 50 Mexican gray wolves have been reintroduced in Arizona and New Mexico from a captive population but are having trouble adapting to their new surroundings.

    • Worldwide, gray wolves are coming back due to research and public education efforts and can be found in several European countries such as Italy, Spain and France.

       

      Current Population

       

    • The 66 wolves reintroduced into Yellowstone and central Idaho have developed into a population of about 1,000 in the Northern Rockies of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming (this figure does not include this year's pups).

    • About 390 wolves have been killed by federal and state officials in "management actions" in the Northern Rockies since the wolves were reintroduced. An equal number were killed illegally.

    • There are about 4,000 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

    • At least 9,000 wolves can be found in Alaska, where they are not endangered.

       

       

       

       

      Behavior

       

    • Wolves are social among their own kind, but typically avoid human contact and rarely pose a threat to human safety. In the past 100 years, there have been several published accounts of human injuries, but no fatalities, due to wolves.

    • Wolves indirectly support a wide variety of other animals. Ravens, foxes, wolverines, and vultures feed on the remains of animals killed by wolves. Wolves also help regulate the balance between hoofed animals, such as deer, and their food supply, making room for smaller plant-eaters, such as beaver.

    • After wolves leave their pack at two or three years of age, they search for their life-long mate and try to develop their own pack.

    • Wolf packs usually live within a specific territory, which typically ranges in size from 50 square miles to 1,000 square miles, depending on prey.

       

      Diet

       

      • Wolves' social structure and pack behavior minimizes their need to scavenge for food or garbage from human sources.

      • Their primary need is for prey, which is most likely to be elk, deer, and moose.

      Language

      • Wolves communicate through howling, body language, and scent. Howling is used to assemble the pack, talk to other packs and to assert territorial claims.

      • On a calm night, howls can be heard from as far as 120 miles away.

      • Wolves use their faces and tails to indicate their emotion and status in the pack. A pack marks its territory using urine and feces.

      Sources:

       

      U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/A03.html, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Gray Wolf http://fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/tande/wolf.html, National Agriculture Statistics Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture http://www.nass.usda.gov/wy/internet/livestock/sheep.pdf 

       

      Copyright 2006, PBS.

      http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/233/gray-wolf-facts.html