Environment and Society Flashcards
When was wolf 832F killed and by whom?
Wolf 832F was killed on December 6, 2012, by a licensed hunter just outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park.
What was unique about 832F?
832F was Yellowstone’s best-known wolf, a tourist favorite, and the alpha female of the Lamar Valley pack, the most-watched wolf pack in the park.
When were wolves reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park?
Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park on January 12, 1995.
How many wolves were initially reintroduced to Yellowstone?
Eight wolves from Canada were initially reintroduced to Yellowstone.
What was the reaction to the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone?
Environmentalists were triumphant, while ranchers and many locals were mortified.
When were Rocky Mountain wolf populations removed from the federal endangered species list?
Rocky Mountain wolf populations were removed from the federal endangered species list beginning in 2009.
What happened when management of the wolves reverted to the states?
All three states surrounding Yellowstone initiated wolf hunting and trapping seasons, sparking controversy between livestock interests and environmentalists.
How have wolves fared since their reintroduction to Yellowstone and the surrounding ecosystems?
Over a thousand wolves now inhabit their former haunts in the Rocky Mountains of Yellowstone and the surrounding ecosystems, thriving since their reintroduction.
What fueled the controversy surrounding wolf hunting?
The fact that the most famous wolf in the world’s first national park, 832F, was killed during the first wolf hunting season in Wyoming in almost a century added fuel to the fire.
Question: What is the scientific name of the gray wolf?
The scientific name of the gray wolf is Canis lupus.
What are some subspecies of the gray wolf?
Some subspecies of the gray wolf include the endangered red wolf (Canis lupus rufus), the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), and the Iranian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes).
What is the relationship between domestic dogs and gray wolves?
Domestic dogs are so genetically similar to gray wolves that they are considered to be a subspecies of the wolf, Canis lupus familiaris.
What is the typical size range of adult gray wolves?
Adult gray wolves range in size from around 45 pounds (for the smallest subspecies, the Arabian wolf) to over 100 pounds (for a large northern gray wolf).
What do most wolves feed on?
Most wolves feed primarily on ungulates, which are hoofed animals that include wild species such as elk, deer, antelope, and bison, as well as domestic species like cattle, sheep, and goats.
What is a trophic level?
Trophic levels are parallel levels of energy assimilation and transfer within ecological food webs. In terrestrial ecosystems, photosynthetic plants form the base trophic level, followed by herbivores and successive levels of carnivores.
What are apex predators?
Apex predators, also known as “top carnivores,” are the animals in any ecosystem occupying the top trophic level. They do not have any natural predators.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity refers to the total variability and variety of life forms in a region, ecosystem, or around the world. It is typically used as a measure of the health of an environmental system.
How do wolf packs function?
Wolf packs are extended families usually consisting of about five to eight individuals. They have a social structure with hierarchies for males, females, and a third non-gender-specific hierarchy. Pack activities include raising young, play, territory defense, and hunting.
What is the significance of alpha wolves in a pack?
The lead male and lead female, often called the “alpha” wolves, are usually (but not always) the parents of the year’s pups and play a crucial role in the pack’s survival and reproduction.
What are trophic cascades?
Trophic cascades are the effects on subsequent (higher or lower) trophic levels after the elimination or reduction in numbers of individuals in one trophic level.
How did the reintroduction of wolves impact Yellowstone National Park?
The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park led to several ecological changes, including the rapid recovery of willows, reemergence of beavers, proliferation of reptiles and amphibians, increases in eagles, magpies, and ravens, and the recycling of nutrients through wolf-kill carcasses decomposing in the soil.
What factors contributed to the decline of wolves in the United States?
Factors contributing to the decline of wolves in the United States include a systematic extermination campaign through bounties, western expansion, the mass killing of bison (a primary food source for wolves), and the increasing dependence of wolves on livestock as their natural prey diminished.
What role did bounties play in the decline of wolf populations in the United States?
Bounties, or money paid by the government to citizens who kill wolves, played a significant role in the decline of wolf populations in the United States. From the 1600s to the early 20th century, bounties led to the widespread killing of wolves and their eventual eradication from many areas.
How did legislation, such as CITES and the Endangered Species Act, help protect wolves?
CITES is an international agreement that bans or strictly regulates the international trade in plant and animal species threatened with extinction, and many wolf populations worldwide are listed under and regulated by it.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA), passed in 1973 in the United States, included all existing populations of wolves outside of Alaska in its original list of endangered species, providing legal protection to wolves and helping with efforts to reestablish their presence in various parts of their former range.
What is reconciliation ecology?
Reconciliation ecology is a science of imagining, creating, and sustaining habitats, productive environments, and biodiversity in places used, traveled, and inhabited by human beings.
What do wolves symbolize in the context of the human-nature relationship?
Wolves symbolize the complexity and changing nature of relationships between humans and wild animals, as well as the difficulties in living without destroying the wildness of the world.
