Pro-wolf-shooting activists should check out this study to see just how beneficial wolves are to the Yellowstone ecosystem--and the survival of one of its most iconic animals.
Even though every respectable regulatory service says shooting wolves in and around Yellowstone National Park is bad for everyone involved, wolves are still being shot. Well, add one more paper to the pile: a new study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology finds that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone has had a positive effect on the population of...wait, what? Grizzly bears? How?
Putting together the puzzle pieces of a diverse ecosystem like Yellowstone is tricky; shooting wolves is like pulling out a piece of an enormous Jenga game. Some parts seem unaffected, some parts are distinctly less balanced, and eventually the whole game will crash. This study looks at how the wolf affects the ecosystem as a whole, and, as we thought, wolves are an essential part of the health of Yellowstone.
See full Article: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/yet-another-reason-not-shoot-yellowstone-wolves
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