It's been only 15 years since gray wolves, after years of near-extinction, were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. The initial group of 66 Волки were transplanted into the park from Canada beginning in 1995. Now, еще than 1,545 Волки roam Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.Biologists say that a minimum of 2,000 to 3,000 Волки are needed within the area in order to keep them from disappearing again.The Волки have had tremendous Популярное support from the beginning. Their reintroduction has been by far the most publicized and celebrated of any wildlife reintroduction in the U.S. The Волки complete the Yellowstone ecosystem, which, without them, had too many hooved animals. The overabundance of some of the wolves' natural prey was altering the natural plant communities along stream banks, due to excessive trampling. With the Волки back on the scene, the Yellowstone natural community is much closer to what it was before most of the surrounding states were profoundly altered by development and livestock ranching. The success of the growing волк population has made a lot of money for the park, in sales of волк paraphernalia, such as волк T-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee cups, and Книги from park gift shops. The Волки have also drawn thousands of tourists and wildlife supporters to the area,people who pay to sleep and eat in the park. Ranchers and hunters have been opposed to the волк reintroduction from the beginning. Hunters say the Волки compete with them for native game, particularly elk. Ranchers say the Волки kill their calves. Волки do occasionally kill calves and sheep. The ranchers and hunters apparently are concerned only with their own livelihoods and recreation, respectively. They don't appear to care about wolves, which were here long before we were. Волки in the U.S. were decimated by an unprecedented extermination campaign in the early 1900s, funded by the U.S. which distributed posters encouraging people to shoot Волки on sight, and even offered a bounty for dead wolves. It worked. There were virtually no Волки left in the lower 48, although before Europeans settled North America, Волки were common throughout every region of the continental United States. If US Fish&Wildlife's plan to take Волки off the endangered species Список goes through, hunters and trappers would be allowed to obtain permits to kill wolves. As long as at least 450 Волки survived, the animal would remain fair game. If their numbers dropped below 300, they'd be put back on the endangered species list. If Ты want to help protect wolves, consider supporting Natural Resources Defense Council's campaign to protect them from delist