Have wildlife laws increased the quality of life for North American wolves?

  • It became illegal to poison or kill wolves.

    Up until this year, people were poisoning, killing, and hunting wolves for fur, protection of livestock, disease control, and out of fear.
  • Period: to

    Wolves are protected by the Endangered Species Act

    They were removed in 2012 for the states of Washington, Yellowstone, Montana, and Idaho, but are still on the list for other states.
  • Reintroduction of wolves

    Wolves were reintroduced to areas in Yellowstone, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, and Canada.
  • Studies performed on wolf population

    Studies determined the number of people in an area was also a major effect on the wolf population.
  • Reintegration of wolves is successful

    The reintegrated areas were successful, increasing the recovery to 49%. The two options were recovery increasing to 66% if efforts to keep humans away from wolves were continued or dropping to 23% because of landscape change brought by humans and natural effects combined.
  • Wolves expand population greatly

    The expansion of large carnivores is majorly controversial as they require a lot of land and compete for hunters for deer, as well as hunting livestock and, rarely, people.