06-09-2006, 05:40 PM
Thank you for letting me know I am entitled to my opinion. I actually respect your opinion. For you to say that you are flat out right on this issue is nearsighted and naive. Yellowstone is a living, breathing ecosystem that is changing constantly and consequently hard to manage. I do agree that wolves do reduce numbers of elk in the park, but drought, over hunting, disease, increased bear numbers and poor habitat are also factors. To completely blame wolves for the decline in elk numbers is not an intelligent assumption. The average age of cow elk killed by wolves in the park is 14 years (elk that are way out of prime reproductive age). So to state that the herd is full of aged elk strictly due to calf harvests is unfounded and incorrect. I do know that wolves take calves, but Yellowstone has been a protected environment for so long that majority of the population is old. Wolf numbers are leveling off in and around the park. I think it is too early in the process to exterminate all remaining wolves, but I do believe hunting them in the future will come to fruition. The following link shows the good and bad with wolf introduction. Definitely worth reading.
[url "http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/intermed/inter_mgmt/ystone_wolves.asp"]http://www.wolf.org/...mt/ystone_wolves.asp[/url]
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[url "http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/intermed/inter_mgmt/ystone_wolves.asp"]http://www.wolf.org/...mt/ystone_wolves.asp[/url]
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