Yes. I know that they are shy. I know that the traditional picture of wolves comes from their eagerness to prey on domestic herd animals, not humans. But when four of them look at you from forty yards away, and then two begin to trot to the left and one to the right, circling you at a constant distance. And you know that if they were not in a (large) cage that within a minute you would be surrounded, with at least one always in your blind spot, while they tried to figure out what to do...
It's unnerving.
Posted by DeLong at July 23, 2003 11:59 AM | TrackBack'The Real World, Yellowstone': Wolves on View All the Time: ...In early 1995, 14 gray wolves were released into the prey-rich park, and the next year 52 more here and in central Idaho. Nine years later their number in the park has grown to 14 packs, or 148 animals, not including 14 new pups this year. Experts say it is the highest density of wolves in the world.
Topography also plays a part. There are wolf packs in Alaska and northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, but the terrain is either remote and access to it difficult, or it is heavily forested. Here it is hilly but treeless and open, and the wolves are easily visible, allowing biologists to watch without getting too close. They don't even have to leave their car if they choose.
It may also be that the animals are oblivious. "They were held in pens and got used to the sights, sounds and smells of people," Dr. Mech said. "They may have realized they didn't have to be afraid," a trait the first generation may have passed on.
That doesn't diminish their wild behavior, he said. As Daniel Stahler, a National Park Service wildlife specialist, sat in his white government-issue S.U.V. recently, with cars and trailers whizzing by, he pointed to a broad grassy meadow on the side of a mountain. "I've probably seen 25 kills on that slope," he said. "Their whole life unfolds in front of observers a couple of miles away. Kill rate, prey selection, interaction with prey and scavengers. Yellowstone is the first to do this at this level."
In nearly four decades as a researcher before the Yellowstone reintroduction, Dr. Mech estimated that he saw 100 to 200 wolf-prey encounters. Dan McNulty, a former student of Dr. Mech who has been researching wolves for eight years here, has witnessed more than 700...
Well well.
Now they can watch packs of wolves go about the full range of their lives, from hunting to raising pups to courtship rituals and sex.
Anne
Posted by: anne on July 23, 2003 01:00 PMIt was always assumed, he said, that wolves killed the old, sick and the weak because those animals fell behind in the chase. Not true, he said. Wolves look for these animals from the outset. "They scan the herd and minimize the possibility of damage to themselves," he said. "For me that's the outstanding event."
Who'd have thought that wolves were such natural politicians?
Posted by: David W. on July 23, 2003 02:05 PM"It's unnerving."
The entrance fee included that. Why are you complaining?