For about 20,000 years before human interference, wolves had plenty of time to wipe out elk. It did not happen. Nature, over time, balances predator/prey populations. Unfortunately, an outspoken group refuses to believe this balance can happen without human interference. Cherry picked statements, as the 2/20 letter to the editor offered when declaring that introducing wolves to Yellowstone destroyed 80% of the elk population, will never satisfy an informed public. Yellowstone elk instead are often at the mercy of a human altered ecosystem.

Variables affecting elk numbers are winter survival, adequate forage, predation by grizzlies, cougars, and wolves, climate change, impacts of human interference, and over-hunting. By ignoring a hundred years of historical background and scientific research in Yellowstone, the prevalence of myths and misinformation about predators persists.

Gross mismanagement of Yellowstone from 1904-35, by killing most wolves, 4,352 coyotes, and 121 cougars, allowed elk populations to far exceed the carrying capacity of the Park. Elk caused severe deterioration of their habitat due to overgrazing, so populations were purposefully reduced by hunters, even allowing pregnant cows to be killed. Elk experts revealed that Montana’s liberal hunting policy in the early 1900s had a significant effect on elk numbers.

When early snows in Oct ober 1919 drove elk outside Yellowstone boundaries, hunters lined up there, killing 7,000 elk and injuring 2,000 to 3,000 more. In 1951, Yellowstone range managers determined that the Northern Range could support only 5,000 elk. In 1955, the herds were twice that size, hence 6,535 elk were shot that winter by hunters. Park Service again allowed another 4,309 killed in winter of 1961. Less than a decade later, the herd was at 4,000. In 1988, better forage and climate increased the herd to 20,000. Wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone would not occur until 1995, and elk herds numbered 16,800, and after calving numbered 20,000. Two decades later, the population stabilized at the targeted carrying capacity determined by Park agents.

In the early 2000s, a University of Wyoming researcher radio-collared 80 female elk and 15 wolves. Three years of data from elk calves revealed that 70% of 151 calves died before one year of age. Surprisingly, it also showed that most of the predators were bears. Human decisions made this happen because sports fishermen decided to introduce lake trout, which outcompeted the grizzlies’ normal protein source of cutthroat trout. Since grizzlies could not capture deep water lake trout, they turned to eating calves.

More data can be listed on the multifaceted causes of elk population fluctuations, but the reader gets the idea. Again, there is no straight line between wolves and an 80% decline of elk numbers, nor is there a direct connection to hunters and indigenous tribes being deprived of essential food sources (elk) as stated by the letter to the editor author. Wolves weed out the weak prey, helping to maintain a vigorous herd and provide positive ecosystem effects.

At least 8 tribal associations representing 200 tribes in a letter to Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland pressed her to reinstate protections for wolves under the ESA. Indigenous people regard the wolf as sacred and an integral part of their traditions and mythology.

Elk hunting contributes to states’ economies, but what about the economic benefits of wolves? Cam Sholly, Yellowstone Park superintendent, wrote Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte about the economic loss from hunters killing off wolves that ventured past Yellowstone boundaries. A half million visitors spent $30 million to view just one wolf, #754. What will the economic losses be from the elimination of the 2,500 wolves from Montana and Idaho since 2020 when federal protections were removed? These states still want up to 90% of their wolves killed by any means possible.

Coexistence must replace lethal management, which will benefit wolves and elk.

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