Originally Posted By: YellowhammerI wonder why the wolves did not eradicate the deer, elk and otehr species that they prey on before man showed up?
If they are going in a very short time to eradicate those species as some indicate, it makes me wonder why it didn't happen before.
It might be that before "man showed up" nature was left to itself regarding it's own balance. I'm sure that game species were eradicated for periods of time in different areas by wolves, with nature eventually returning them to balance on her terms.
Then man enters the picture and dramatically changes the face of the landscape and thus all the creatures that inhabit it, and did so in a very short historical time frame.
At some point in this transition it was determined by man that the wolves and himself had similar interests, IE: livestock, game animals, etc., and because of that as well as for safety concerns man decided that co-existing with them was not an option. Since man has providence over animals, to protect his interests in areas where conflict occurred, man eradicated wolves.
For roughly a century and a half in the US man lived largely without wolves, and our society grew and flourished without them. All this growth meant that wilderness and untamed lands, of which wolves require vast amounts of as their preferred habitat, shrunk.
Now enter individuals who for god knows what personal reasons decide that wolves need to be reintroduced to areas they have been vacant from for a large part of our Country's history. Ironically, most if not all of them have no vested interest in the affected lands. And to make matters worse, this was done under the guise that science would be used to manage wolf populations, something which never happened.
And even if it were to have happened the way it was originally planned, why the science experiment in the first place? So these individuals could observe the wolves? Seriously? Of those of you on this forum who live and hunt in wolf country, although you may have seen sign of them or the damage they create, how many live wolves have you observed? I expect the number would be pretty low. So what are the chances that the people who championed this cause would ever see one, or for that matter even pay a visit to the general areas they have been re-introduced into.
To try to turn the hands of time back and return the land to what it once was? Impossible.
Which begs the question, what is their motivation? And to what lengths and at whose expense are they willing to pursue them?
It's easy to play chess on someone else's board while sitting in your ivory tower. Particularly when your livelihood or preferred form of recreation is not affected by the outcome of the game...
Here's a question... what positive results have been seen from the re-introductions? All I hear about are negative impacts, not a single positive is to be heard. Where is the upside to wolves? Seems to me that there are limited enough hunting opportunities available for man these days in this Country that I personally doubt the wisdom of re-introducing another uncontrolled apex predator for what seems to me to be "feel good" reasons.
I believe that we should try to live in harmony with nature, and use it's resources wisely and responsibly, but I also believe that at the end of the day, man trumps animal. If some people had their way it would be the other way around.
Maybe those people should go find another sand box to play in...
