Q&A: Wolves, Doug Smith

[@judithcampbell3354]

Thank You Doug I enjoyed listening to you. Very informative. I live in Canada and have been protecting wolves for many years now. It’s not easy when you come up against the wolf haters, but to my dying day I will never give up. Ty again!

[@davidvanlalsawma7123]

Dear Judith , yes wolf supporter like you and me needed to band together in our bid to releive this poor creature to secure their prolonged existence and wellbeing in the future, so long Judith see you around!

[@antera77]

0:13 Why were wolves reintroduced in Yellowstone? 2:13 What are the advantages of having wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem? 3:56 How have wolves affected the elk population? 6:57 Did Yellowstone introduce the wrong wolf? 10:18 Do wolves kill for sport, or kill more than they can eat? 13:28 Should people be afraid of wolves? 15:40 What are some challenges of managing a predator species that crosses park boundaries? 18:09 Do wolf hunts outside Yellowstone affect packs living primarily inside the park? 21:19 Has the reintroduction of wolves changed our knowledge of this animal?

[@kereru33]

A world without a Wolf!!? No way....thanks Yellowstone for having the Wolf.

[@CAROLG1267]

I am becoming a real fan of Doug Smith!!!!! Thanks for sharing - again great video!

[@aaronbott500]

Outstanding video. I greatly admire Doug Smith and his work. This is a golden resource for the public. Thanks!

[@jbrunasa]

This guy is the best!!!

[@HomeInWildSpaces]

Considering the polar nature of wolf reintroduction, I've alway's appreciated the honesty and balanced from Doug. Love the video!

[@jbrunasa]

I wish everyone could have access to this video! People need to educate themselves. Wolves are being killed by hunters everyday and yet still so misunderstanding.

[@fiok4756]

Doug is so wonderful at articulating complex concepts. I am doing a media literacy project for students focusing on wolves and will be including segments of this video in our exploration of the complicated controversy surrounding wolves. I think this will go a long way in helping them pull out some important facts amid all the polarized opinions on every side of the issue.

[@andrewdubrasky4364]

What was the book on wolves published in 2003 that was mentioned in the video?

[@knightrider8145]

"Wolves. Behavior, Ecology and Conservation". Edited by David Mech and Luigi Boitani. I would also suggest you read the more recent book edited by Doug himself and his biology colleagues for the 25th anniversary of wolf reintroduction (2020) "Yellowstone wolves"

[@no1dweeze]

Thank you Doug for such a informative talk.. I loved it.

[@Aethuviel]

Wolves are very widespread and look very different - but of course a Mexican wolf *can* interbreed with an Arctic one, the definition of subspecies is not that they can't breed (even animals from different genera or subfamilies can interbreed, like leopards and cougar, mini macaws and conures), but that they are different and live in different places, but not different enough to be separate species. The gray wolf was made extinct in the US, and so of course the only wolves left to reintroduce were the Canadian ones. I see no reason why wolves from British Columbia say, should be any different than from ones in Washington, Idaho or Minnesota. Northern North American wolves, it's the same thing that was there before.

[@pertrygvestevikjohnsen7146]

Finally this film has reached the wolf debate in Norway. Here we struggle to keep around 60 wolves, a part of a scandinavian population of some 350, and the struggle area is in the south east of Norway, the so called Wolf Zone. The arguments from the wolf opponents and haters are very much the same. It's about commercial interests such as cheep farming with hundred of thousands of cheep on free grazing in the forest and mountain areas, and moose hunting, but there are also many stories about fear or dogs getting killed from some people living in the zone and some hunters. The minister of environment has temporarily stopped a parliament decision to kill 47 of the total wolf population. The minister is now both a hero and an object of hate. I think this lecture from Doug Smith says with is needed to know and I'll certainly use it in the debate. Thank you for sharing!

[@ceili]

Per Trygve Stevik Johnsen has there any development on the wolf situation in Norway?

[@mclane9813]

@BrianHenry. 1: Red Wolves are the species of wolf called Canis Rufus, so yes they are different. Every other wolf here is Canis Lupus. On top of this, red wolves are also physically different. You can tell very easily between a every other wolf here and a red wolf. So yes, their are different subspecies but, if their around the same size, and eating the same thing, theyre basically the same. The wolves in Yellowstone today were chosen because of their sameness to our original wolves. So their is as little difference between them as a Chinese and a Japanese person. 2: Livestock animals get killed in large numbers because they don't know how to defend themselves like their wild counterparts. All predators who attack livestock normally kill more then they can eat because of this, not just wolves. They dont kill for sport, they kill because of the internal instinct to survive. For wolves, as well as all other predators, they don't know when their next meal will be so their instinct tells them to get as much as they can. With killing elk, this usually only means one or two each hunt, because unlike livestock, elk know how to defend themselves. But with livestock, they may kill until until an entire flock is gone. It's not for fun, it's a combination of their instinct telling them to survive and them not being able to think like humans and knowing when to stop. 3: Please give a source as to the attacks on humans in India. Yes, there have been documented attacks on humans in the past, but their very rare. More people are killed by dogs then wolves. Also, attacks in India don't mean our wolves here are going to attack. America is lucky to have as many laws as it does about protecting the environment. Many other places don't, so their ecosystems are more messed up then ours.

[@Redstoneprime316]

Brice wants the ecosystem destroyed. His comments prove that 100%

[@meagenruttan4681]

Awesome! This man is my hero! SCIENCE! BIOLOGY! Thank you, Yellowstone, for being great!

[@Aethuviel]

In Sweden, two people have been killed by wolves in the last 200 years - both were tame, bottle-raised wolves. Wild wolves have never attacked. Also, only humans kill for sport.

[@markpiersall9815]

@@Aethuviel Fatal Wolf attacks on people are well documented. People take the meat, hide and antlers generally. The idea people pay money for hunting Tags and shit an animal and walk away is absurd. They take the meat.

[@fiselfrazel1064]

Anyone who keeps arguing about can I just say research has shown wolves and also brown bears and lynxes live in forests and mountains they share with people. If you are so angry about wolves being here people in Europe are actually raising livestock and yes they do not like wolves taking their livestock but to deal with the problem they have a hunting season for wolves. This keeps the livestock loss down. The people in Europe are actually giving wolves a chance to share their forests and mountains. Why can’t you give the wolves a chance.

[@vlanhondermoslin9088]

Wolves are an important part of natural ecosystems. They belong there and we are in fact the invasive species. Why bother with the politics and attempt at portraying wolves as noble and cuddly custodians of the wilderness? Really, public opinion shouldn't count for much here, much less the interests of a few (non-subsistence) farmers and hunters. Whether it infringes on my rights to participate in democracy or not, I think it's a non-issue, re-introducing wolves should be a priority before even more, possibly irreversible damage is done, regardless of the unsubstantiated claims spread by people with selfish and profit-driven interests or even public opinion on re-introducing them (which I believe is overwhelmingly positive, anyway.)

[@reinis.berzins]

But how do wolves decide to stop killing when their prey is weak, and wolves are not exhausted yet? Do wolves calculate how much meat they will eat before it gets rotten or eaten by other animals? Or do they rather rely on their killing instinct to kill as long as they have energy. You can call it instict, sport, evolutionary strategy that works in most situtations, but not all situations (e.g. when killing 70 sheep).

[@alexanderkrummholtz1589]

You can't just equate instinct and sport like that. Hunting for sport is a conscious decision and implies certain motives. And killing 70 sheep works exactly by the same principles as the surplus killing of elk described in the video. Sheep are domestic livestock and easy for predators to exploit, just like sick or malnourished elk, and predators will exploit any easy source of food as much as they can. Of course some of it will be wasted, we're talking about animals that don't have much higher cognition, but it's abundantly clear what the "evolutionary intent" behind the behavior is.

[@jaredknott9529]

A wolf can weigh more than a 100 pounds I know that for a fact.

[@jago76]

I've got no problem returning wolves to Yellowstone. I'm more concerned with the new rule allowing visitors to bring guns into the park. Absolutely no doubt that humans are far more dangerous than wolves.

[@PTTHOR]

+jago76 You're an idiot! It's been proven that there never were wolves living in Yellowstone!! Hunters bringing millions for the communities, scientific research and food for their families. Wolves have destroyed the Moose, Elk and deer. People are indeed more dangerous but, only when they are ignorant of facts but, still comment.

[@jago76]

+PTTHOR No wolves in Yellowstone? if you spent five minutes researching, you'd find out that hundreds of wolves were killed in Yellowstone by game managers. But you obviously aren't interested in facts.

[@PTTHOR]

Wrong again stupid... Try reading historical facts that are NOT tainted by liberal idiots with tainted agenda, then you'll see how truly ignorant you are !!!

[@jago76]

+PTTHOR For all who are following this thread, note that PTTHOR resorts to insults and won't even accept the very well documented history of predator control in Yellowstone. I guess you attack and insult when you can't deal with reality.

[@PTTHOR]

+jago76 When I see an idiot, I call it...

[@mclane9813]

This is what the anti wolf crowd doesn't get.

[@PTTHOR]

+Mclane You need to learn! This idiot is completely wrong & ignores all of the facts .

[@mclane9813]

Wow. Maybe you should look at the facts. This guy is a biologist who LIVES in Yellowstone. He has been studying wolves for years. It's the wolf haters that ignore the facts. Are wolves predators? Yes. Do they kill things? Yes. But are they non native or overpopulated? All the evidence says no.

[@PTTHOR]

No, he's a wolf loving pseudo-biologist! He completely denies the facts that hunters= money = scientific management of the animals in the park & everywhere else! The moose are destroyed and the elk are nearly destroyed!!! Wolves don't buy tags, wolves don't have seasons & wolves kill yearlings and mature rutting bulls. Scientist's have been replaced with killers that don't count & manage ! Hunters can do a far better job than wolves AND bring in MILLIONS to local economies THAT'S THE FACTS !!! You don't live there & you don't know wolves ~ That's the other reason you're WRONG !

[@mclane9813]

As much as I hate to break it to you, I still don't think your looking at the facts. Tell me, have you ever actually been to Yellowstone? Because I can tell you from the personal experience of being there, that the elk and deer are just fine. Where you don't see them, you can see their scat and footprints. The only prey animal more abundant then them is Bison. The anti wolf crowd only hates wolves because they are misinformed and don't want to share the elk with predators. Elk are not endangered, they're just finally returning to their natural numbers. Before they were overpopulated.

[@PTTHOR]

+Mclane Not only have I been to Yellowstone, I live in Montana, in the heart of wolf infested Montana & let me tell you, your "trip to Yellowstone" means exactly Squat! You don't have a clue how the elk were and how they are now! You know even less about the decimated moose that are almost nonexistent in and around the park, you couldn't make 100 trips to Yellowstone and know any more about it by not knowing the history, or, by listening to pseudo-biologist's like this tree hugging libtard! All you know co mes from videos like this and your last vacation to the park - Truly sad that that's what you think qualifies you to debate this! Try watching real videos like Crying Wolf and see the real facts!

[@_watty]

Doug Glatt aha!

[@fallonprince4200]

This is the gospel perfect truth because he says so..

[@patrickcunningham5999]

It’s hard to share sources over this kind of media, google scholar is there though if you wish to fact check something

[@davidvanlalsawma7123]

Dear Dr Doug Smith in the biography of president Theodore Roosevelt facts revealed he is more of an iconoclast than a conservationist that they say

[@hyenaboy7504]

Didn't Theodore Roosevelt start a lot of national parks, though? If he did, that shows he cared about nature and wildlife.

[@ryanhoward3383]

Yes and no. Roosevelt definitely wanted to preserve a lot of Wildlife like elk and moose but he also had supported bounties to kill predatory animals such as mountain lions and wolves. He even labeled the wolf as "a beast of waste and desolation".

[@TheFullNeilson]

Wolves will absolutely kill more than they can eat. You make it sound like they are always in danger when they hunt based off of the average size of various animals. This is simply an incomplete view. You then give perhaps the worst example of an exeption to this based off belly deep snow etc. Preditors prey on the weak to avoid danger. This means most often the young helpless offspring of animals. I can assure if a pack of wolves spot easy prey they will kill it hungry or not. You make this point yourself but omit where it is most prevlant which is with helpless offspring. This is a major issue and it is why the populations of Elk Moose and Deer are tanking. For someone as knowledgeable as you are I find it interesting to observe you omitting so many obvious issues. The "natural" order of things will result in the starvation of wolves after they eat all the prey. The issue with this is that eventually when their is little food to be had for them in Yellowstone they will leave the park in search of food. Where do you think they will go? We are a critical part of the natural order of things. This non intervention state is very unnatural. We are not a blight upon the earth. The earth was created for us. The resources we find here are for our benifit. The "natural"=untouched by man state you describe completely flys in the face of our purpose here. It's fine if their are not enough animals for man to eat because he is not a part of the natural order of things. If a bear kills a wolf or vice versa to have food to eat its ok. But man cannot do that because we don't belong here. I appreciate you making this video it was very informative. We definitely have some fundamental disagreements though. Have a nice day. Avery Neilson

[@patrickcunningham5999]

Respectfully I disagree with you. If what you’re saying is true once predators evolved all herbivores would have immediately gone extinct. The wolf population would have to grow to an insane rate before it reached a point where it actually destroyed the elk population, not just limited it. Look at coyotes, over the past 100 years they’ve increased their range to the point where they’re in every state except Hawaii. They will eat white tail deer and livestock as well. The white tail deer herd across the US is still impacted more from diseases like chronic wasting (because they became overly abundant as we extirpated all the predators and created more edge habitat) than from predation by coyotes. Predators can only exist as long as the ecosystem that supports them is healthy and in that way are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Will they leave Yellowstone, yes because they are a highly mobile species and there is ample habitat for them, but not because they destroyed all the elk and will continue this slaughter of ungulates until their population collapses.

[@hyenaboy7504]

Can I also add that the Earth wasn't made for us, and that it's not our place to decide what nature does? Wild animals have existed here long before we have. Plus, the fact we (as a species) are destroying several ecosystems means we very much ARE a "blight on the Earth".

[@averyneilson12]

@@hyenaboy7504 If you really believe that why are you here?

[@hyenaboy7504]

@@averyneilson12 The Earth, and its wildlife, wer here for much longer than we were. Nature is millions of years old, whereas we (as a species) are only about a several hundred thousand years old. Also: why am I here? Because I was born here. And I'm hoping to become a zoologist in the future.

[@TheFullNeilson]

@@hyenaboy7504 We have always existed and we are of a noble heritage.

[@bricehenry1223]

You admit they sports kill its very well documented 120 sheep in a single night.

[@aaronbott500]

Rewatch the video, starting at 10:18 "Do wolves kill for sport, or kill more than they can eat?"

[@hyenaboy7504]

@@aaronbott500 Brice is LYING TO GET ATTENTION.

[@andrewwerner2061]

I so don't like him for so many reasons

[@user-qc7hr4my7r]

I’m sure he or anyone else really cares that you say this on every video with Doug, but yet here you are watching a video with Doug, smfh

[@andrewwerner2061]

I don't like doug at all.for so many reasons.

[@hyenaboy7504]

Why don't you like people who do research out in the field?

[@andrewwerner2061]

@@hyenaboy7504 I do like them just not him I like ric better

[@hyenaboy7504]

@@andrewwerner2061 Who's Ric? Guessing he's another one of the wolf researchers at Yellowstone? And what bad things has Doug done that you don't like him for?

[@andrewwerner2061]

@@hyenaboy7504 ya ric is another wolf guy there's a video of Doug saying he d be in favor of wolf shooting

[@hyenaboy7504]

@@andrewwerner2061 different conservationists have different views on how conservation should be done, I guess?