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Yep, that's right, the Northern Yellowstone herd went from 19,000+ animals to just over 9,000. Calf to cow ratios are at the lowest ever recorded. I guess that's because they only eat the sick!!!
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You're right, I left out calves and other vulnerables. Elk cow/calf ratios are even higher in zoo's where there is a full time staff dedicated to the elk. It's only natural these ratio's would drop. Natural selection is not "survival of those who know how to complete the most welfare forms, those who can garner the most votes".
Can you supply a peer reviewed reference for those numbers? What was the population 300 years ago? 500 years ago?
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I realize that wolves are not the ONLY factor in the decline of the Northern Yellowstone elk herd, but it was thriving UNTIL the reintroduction.
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How do you define thriving? What about the beaver, coyote and deciduous tree populations in the park? (extinct, overpopulated, no saplings under 40 years old (wolf eradication date). I'd be happy to supply a list of 20 other species out of balance.
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Not to mention the cattle, sheep and family pets that are also falling prey to them.
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Yep, ecological recovery is a wonderful thing, gonna eliminate us from hunting them altogether real soon. But then, that was the real reason for re-introducing them, wasn't it!!
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>>real reason
What evidence do you have for your mind reading? Besides suffering from the motivation flaw of logic, the evidence is overwhelming that reintroduction of the wolves has been more than a spectacular win, win, win situation for environment.
One interesting (and often repeated) anecdote I got in my interviews; The wolves kill in this order:
<ul type="square"> [*]Dogs (the sentinels)
[*]Horses (favorite food)
[*]Sheep, calves, etc [/list]
When I hunted outside the park I was astounded by all the pet elk; unnaturally oblivious (compared to the elk in the little belts).
The most interesting comment you make is
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"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." Psalms 118:8
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The Lord set up the region with the wolf as top predator. Man removed that top predator.
As a GF native I've seen the elk population for the last 40 years. There are now wolves in the little belts just 65 miles from GF. (And lots of moose, there were no moose 20 years ago).
I don't think there is any debate, reintroduction of the wolves makes it harder for man to harvest elk. It's also accepted that some livestock/pets are lost. But there is likewise no debate among biologists from many fields, the reintroduction has been a phenomenal success beyond any one's expectations. It's as if God designed an optimal system with the wolf at the top of the food chain.
