Women and Wolves
Women and Wolves
Navigating Wolf Conservation and Ranching
Quinn Kirschner
​
Mexican grey wolves are essential for the health of our ecosystems but there is a gap in people's understanding of their positive impacts due to public perceptions. Because the reintroduction of Mexican grey wolves is predominantly in areas used by ranchers, the public's perceived reputation of the wolves is based on ranchers' negative attitudes and perceptions. Ranchers see the Mexican grey wolves as a threat to their livestock, resulting in some ranchers turning to kill wolves that step onto their land to protect their stock because if they lose these animals they lose money. There are compensation programs but this can be hard to keep track of especially when livestock lives on large ranges and cannot be tracked easily. Compensation program results have also been ineffective because of historical, cultural, and social barriers. Instead of helping protect the wolf population and the environment, some ranchers have taken advantage of political compensation programs to raise more livestock (Vynne, 2008). Addressing potential corruption within wildlife management is essential for conservation efforts to remain effective. This requires transparency, community involvement, and decisions made based on evidence to benefit both locals and wildlife.
Communities need custom solutions for successful programs. This would encourage ranchers to take responsibility for proper management while building trust and clear guidance. A study that took place in 2008 showed the Defenders of Wildlife compensation programs to be ineffective as they didn’t offset ranchers' economic loss for wolves, which does not support wolf recovery and conservation efforts (Vynne, 2008). Defenders of Wildlife was established to compensate for livestock killed by the Mexican grey wolf. But, many ranchers are skeptical because of financial security. For successful programs, there needs to be a clear understanding of what local communities need and consider potentially increasing amounts to address ranchers' concerns. To help solve this issue there needs to be an increase of education to help offset misperceptions. There needs to be additional options for ranchers like compensation for veterinary costs, incentives, and proactive measures. There also needs to be more awareness of the Defenders of Wildlife compensation program and increase the support to develop effective additional programs. To keep the peace between Ranchers and Mexican grey wolves there needs to be learning from challenges, failures, and successful examples..
How the American Perception of Wolves was Influenced and how this is Impacting Mexican Grey Wolves
Many people don’t realize our perceptions create such a negative impact on our environment and animals. The fear we hold against predators like Mexican grey wolves is not only affecting their population sizes but the ecosystems as well. Our attitudes toward wolves started to develop as we expanded westward in the 19th century. As settlers moved they diminished the wolves' prey and took over their habitat. Wolves carried the negative stigma of being harmful to the development of civilization as they destroyed livestock being raised by settlers. There had been many extermination campaigns by the early 19th century, which resulted in the removal of wolves in New England. By the turn of the 20th century, the wolves had disappeared from the United States(Fogleman, 1989). Because of the disappearance of wolves, the community's survival was no longer jeopardized by the loss of livestock.
Wolves had become known for their strength, sight, and hearing which resulted in humans fearing them. They had been declared “enemies to all..” and were typically represented as the bad guys in many children's books and movies. Because of the narratives wolves portray in fiction, the public has been heavily influenced, creating a bias against wolf conservation. Due to our society's perceptions and attitudes toward Mexican grey wolves, there have been negative impacts on conservation and recovery efforts. These negative public attitudes affect legislation and funding for wolf recovery programs and the policymakers feel pressure from the public to act against conservation efforts. Because society’s perceptions of wolves have been transferred from generation to generation dating back hundreds of years, we now lack an understanding of wolves and their ecological role. Addressing these negative attitudes through education, community engagement, and policy advocacy that highlight the benefits and positive impacts of wolf conservation would be beneficial for both wolves and our environment.
The Ecological Importance of Mexican Grey Wolves
Mexican grey wolves, like other larger carnivores, play an important role in maintaining the ecosystem. They are an apex predator so they help regulate population sizes, like deer and elk, preventing overgrazing. Mexican grey wolves help maintain elk and deer populations which promote healthy vegetation, preventing overgrazing. Wolves help maintain species diversity by influencing prey dynamics. A healthy population, encouraged by prey species, is a well-balanced ecosystem where many different species can survive. Wolves also leave the remains of their prey behind, which helps provide food for scavengers like coyotes or birds, helping sustain species within the ecosystem. Mexican grey wolves can also initiate trophic cascades, which is when changes at the top of the food chain influence the dynamics of the lower trophic levels. Therefore, their hunting behavior affects not only the prey but other predators and plants as well. They help keep the herbivore population in check and help vegetation recover, supporting diverse plant communities. We have seen this take place in Yellowstone. Grey wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone after being gone for 70 years. From the first 15 years after the wolves returned data showed that their presence helped restore their ecosystem. Elk populations decreased, leading to less overgrazing, bison and beaver increased, due to less food competition (Ripple, 2012). However, since the Mexican grey wolf, a subspecies of the grey wolf, populations are heavily managed and there are gaps in data from camera surveys, there cannot be any drawn conclusion on if they are affecting the ecosystem (Hoskinson, 2018). This proves that we need more conservation efforts to be made. Successful wolf reintroduction programs lead to healthier and more diverse ecosystems while promoting community involvement and education.
The conservation of Mexican grey wolves helps maintain genetic diversity within the species. When a population is genetically diverse they are more resilient to environmental changes, and disease which supports a healthy ecosystem. Their presence maintains a healthy and balanced food web. Mexican grey wolves also hold cultural importance for indigenous communities. By learning from these communities we can become more educated on their importance and why they are culturally valued.
Citations
Vynne, S. J. (2008). An assessment of rancher perspectives on the livestock compensation program for the Mexican gray wolf in the southwestern United States (Master's thesis). University of Oregon. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/e656abe2-d209-49b6-aeef-fb0000901229/content
Valerie M. Fogleman. (1989). American Attitudes Towards Wolves: A History of Misperception. Environmental Review: ER, 13(1), 63–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/3984536
Waters, K. (2019). The influence of social media interactions on perceptions of and attitudes toward mexican gray wolves (Order No. 22589686). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2285147210). Retrieved from https://libproxy.nau.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/influence-social-media-interactions-on/docview/2285147210/se-2
Ripple, W. (2012). Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction.Ecological Economics, 70(11), Page Range. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.07.002
Hoskinson, J. (2018). Mexican Gray Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: A Comparative Assessment of Community Assemblages in Arizona. University of Arizona