By Gary R. Dobson

By the late 1800s, bison had vanished from the majority of the Great Plains and the natural habitat and feeding grounds of the wolf had been turned into ranchland. Surviving wolf packs were forced to continue their practice of raiding cattle, sheep, and other livestock in order to sustain their diets.

It is interesting to note that very few confirmed attacks against livestock were recorded during this particular era or at any time in the future, for that matter. In order for the wolf to prey as heavily on farm animals as accused, it would have had to risk coming in contact with humans and this was not an appealing option for the species. Richard Thiel states, “Wolves…went to extreme lengths in avoiding humankind. Wolves showed remarkable fear of man”. This observation, and verified by all my sources, leads me to believe that stories of rampant attacks by wolves on livestock were yet another example of the irrational and incessant hatred of the species.

The farmers and ranchers, however, were but two voices of anger demanding the eradication of the wolf. During the latter part of the 1800s and throughout the next century, wolves were also blamed for decimating wild game (primarily deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep) even though man had been responsible for the depletion of these species. Wolves were labeled as evil creatures bent on the destruction of many types of game, but primarily deer.

As hunting evolved into a national sport, rather than a necessary method of generating sustenance, a new outcry against the wolf was raised. Powerful lobby groups beseeched the government to protect the deer herds by devising a plan to finally rid the country of the wolf.

In addition, the tourism industry was now well underway and national parks had been established to protect (in order to afford the public an opportunity to view “acceptable” wild animals) deer, moose, bighorn sheep, and other species. As McIntyre states in his book A Society of Wolves, “Based on that premise…wolves, became bad animals, and any action that killed them off could be justified”. Frankenstein in wolf’s clothing continued to walk the Earth and that just wouldn’t do.

The majority of society had always regarded wolves as, “bad animals,” but now the government fully agreed with the label. Throughout the remainder of the 1800s and early parts of this century, the government sponsored an all-out war on the wolf. McIntyre writes, “The war against the wolf became one of the most successful government programs ever launched”.

In order to encourage its citizens to wipe out the species (as if historical hatred based on lies about the devilish nature of the wolf wasn’t enough of an incentive), the U.S. government and Canada’s parliament instituted a bounty program. It turned out to be a very effective plan and especially so in Montana where between 1883 and 1918, 80,730 claims for wolf bounties were paid out.

In Wisconsin, as a result of that state’s successful bounty program, the last timber wolf in the region was killed in 1914 even though the first bounty had only been issued in 1865. That was a remarkably short period of time in which to eradicate an entire species.

The government was so fervent in its desire to ensure the destruction of the nation’s wolf populations that hunters had to take an oath guaranteeing that they would not spare the life of any Canis lupus. This meant that hunters had to utilize extremely effective methods of killing the species in order to comply with their oath to the government. Game laced with strychnine and ground glass provided an inexpensive solution to the problem.

The government was thoughtful enough to aid the wolf killers in their mission to wipe out the species. As Peter Steinhart writes in his book The Company of Wolves, “From 1905-1916, a Montana law required the state veterinarian to inoculate captured wolves with sarcoptic mange and turn them loose”. Even Theodore Roosevelt hopped on the wolf extermination and hatred campaign by stating “…the wolf is the beast of waste and desolation”.

Eventually, the bounty program proved so effective that the wolf ceased to have even an insignificant presence in North America. A model of perfection, regarding the elimination of the wolf, was triumphed by the government as it proudly announced, in 1929, that wolves had finally been eradicated from Yellowstone Park 10. That was quite an achievement, but was surpassed by the announcement, in the mid-1930s, that only a few hundred wolves, out of North America’s original wolf population of 2 million, remained.

The divorce of man and the wolf had taken centuries to be fully consummated, but fueled by society’s irrational fears, ludicrous fairytales and lies, the mission had become a roaring success. The ravings of a control-mad Church, greed of hunters, unfounded complaints of farmers, and the weak-kneed capitulation of government authorities had also ably assisted the plan of extermination. Now, only a handful of man’s once respected “brother in the hunt” remained. The once proud howling of the wolf was but a whisper in the twilight of its existence.

In 1939, Adolph Murie, a federal biologist, heard that whisper. Murie was ordered by the government to study the few wolves, remaining in McKinley National Park, in order to determine their effect on the game in the area. Following a five year period of research, Murie wrote a study entitled “The Wolves of Mount McKinley” in which he reported that wolves, in the park, lived in a rough balance with their prey. This was a finding that contradicted the long held belief that wolves decimated prey populations.

Based on Murie’s report, the Park Service decided to cease its program to eradicate the wolf population in McKinley National Park. The glimmer of hope, however, for the wolf was short-lived. Within a year of the government’s decision, hunters, farmers, and ranchers in the region demanded that the program be reinstated. It would remain intact until 1952.

Between 1944 and through the early 1950s, the public continued to be obsessed with the mission to rid the wolf from North America. By this time, the species had virtually been eliminated from most parts of Eurasia. Surely the hunters on our side of the ocean would be able to mirror the success story of their foreign counterparts.

In 1952, however, prominent biologists and conservationists such as Leopold, Lopez, and Mech decided to pick up where Murie had left off and attempt to save the wolf. Following exhaustive research studies, the biologists reported that wolves were not responsible for decimating the deer (and other game) population in North America. Their combined studies showed that severe weather, predatory attacks by bears, and excessive hunting by humans were causing the game populations to decrease. The whisper of the land’s remaining wolves began to rise in volume.

The biologists also proved that wolves were not as bent on the destruction of livestock as had been historically believed. McIntyre echoes this fact when stating, “Minnesota wolves kill cattle, sheep, and turkeys on about one out of every three hundred farms located in wolf range. In British Columbia, they kill an average of…three cows and 2 sheep annually, a rate that translates to…one out of every 25,000 cows and one out of every 5,500 sheep”.

Research conducted by other biologists and scientists, over the next few decades, would help to dispel many of the age-old lies about the wolf and how destructive it was to mankind. Perhaps, however, the most telling fact to emerge from these studies was the statement, echoed by all wolf biologists and researchers, that no evidence confirming an attack by healthy wolves on humans had ever been recorded.

The biologists had done a remarkable job in discovering the truth about the wolf. Thiel writes, “They brought with them a more enlightened ecological approach to field of game management. No longer were Conservation Department officials willing to react so quickly to complaints of wolves killing deer”.

Hunters, however, and farmers continued to wage war against the wolf. It wasn’t until The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 that the wolf finally began to feel the protection of the government. From that date on, the penalty for killing a wolf would be $50,000 and up to one year in jail. Not every farmer and rancher obeyed the law, but a sufficient number did.

With proper supervision of the wolf reintroduction program, packs began to grow in numbers throughout selective parts of North America. Sadly, however, many sub-types of wolves are lost forever, including, in the wild, The Red Wolf (Wolves). Others are so close to extinction that hope for their recovery is extremely slim.

In 1987, The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan recommended reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Scientists had proposed that in order for them to study the natural ecology of the park, every original species must be present in the region. Since 1929, the only missing element had been the wolf. McIntyre writes, “The Yellowstone ecosystem will never function properly until…the wolf is restored to its rightful place.

The plan sparked a series of debates, in Washington, and was amply fueled by the protestations of farmers, hunters, and the ever-dwindling members of society that still considered the wolf to be an evil menace. In the end, however, hundreds of books detailing the beauty of wolves, posters and calendars exhibiting non-threatening pictures of Canis lupus, films such as Never Cry Wolf, and decades of research had served to turn the vision of the wolf into one deserving of peace, dignity, and freedom.

In 1995, wolves finally set foot on Yellowstone National Park ground once again. The promise of a new relationship between society and the wolf had been born, but a flurry of old fears remained intact. Steve Grooms quotes a statement made by a Montana congressman of the day, “There’ll be a dead kid within a year”. One of the congressman’s counterparts in Idaho chimed in, “Wolves pose a real danger to humans”. Thankfully, they were wrong, very wrong.

Wolves have returned to many parts of North America. It is good to see that a great deal has changed. It is sad to realize that a great deal still requires change.

While watching the video presentation entitled Wolves, I learned that, “…there are fewer than 1% of original numbers of wolves living in the lower 48 states.” To many people, that would be a tragic statement and I concur.

On the other hand, knowing what I do now regarding man’s historical treatment of the species, I also see hope in that statement. At least we have 1% of the original numbers to study, admire, and nurture. There is promise that civilization has chosen to cast aside the irrational fears and hell bent desire to destroy the wolf. A recent conversation, however, caused me to believe that full realization of this promise remains ensconced in the future.

The other day when I was beginning work on this paper, I received a phone call from a person who is very close to my heart. We chatted for a time and then she asked, “What is the subject of your paper?” I proceeded to provide a fairly detailed description of my hypothesis and thesis.

“Oh, really!” said my friend. “My uncle loves to hunt wolves, just for sport. God, I hope the government doesn’t find out about what he’s doing.”

Upon hearing her remark, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness invade my soul. “Just for sport,” she had said, “Just for sport.”

Dr. Frankenstein created something that he abhorred and imagined that it would wreak havoc on the world. The doctor and society forced the creature to become what civilization most feared, a monster out of control.

Man believed that he could never control the wolf, thus allowed his imagination to turn the species into a symbol of evil and devilry. The wolf came within an inch of experiencing worldwide extermination.

To many, killing the wolf was probably an honorable act and even a sport. The conversation with my friend convinced me that there are those who still shoot bullets into the brains of wolves just for the sport of it. I imagine that visions of Little Red Riding Hood are probably dancing in their heads as they stand proud over the body of one more wolf.

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