Wolves in parks: not "news" but fascinating nonetheless

[unreliable narrator]

The effects of the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park... amazing.

http://sfglobe.com/?id=14064&src=share_fb_new_14064

[Algernon Sydney is Dead]

Yeah. It's also more propaganda than fact. Some short-term effects are known, but the causes are very much in dispute.
In the USA, our national parks have been politicized to an outrageous degree. There have been many changes, few of them good for the overall community, or the country, or even for precious "mother nature" in the long term.

There was an excellent rebuttal of that guy's TED talk, IIRC. Haven't found it yet, but here's a start.

Full disclosure: I'm actually for more wolves but have no silly notions about how harmless they are. I also had a wolf-dog hybrid for 13 years and he was a great dog.

[unreliable narrator]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know much about the subject but someone posted the link on Facebook so I thought I'd post it here. The counter arguement looks just as compelling and it seems a shame that politics is driving through changes rather than legitimate research.

I met a bloke down the pub a few years ago with a German Shepherd cross Wolf called Moon. It's eyes were terrifying but it was a beautiful animal. He sat with it in the beer garden because he said it hated kids and coud be temperamental... I was too much of a woose to pet it.

[Algernon Sydney is Dead]

My wolf-dog had beautiful eyes and the most awesome black/brown/blue merle coat.
He loved kids, especially when they tried to run (no joke). He never hurt anything besides me (rough play) and the occasional gopher, but some parents just couldn't tell the difference between an attack and fanged exuberance, so I had to keep him on a tight leash if there was any possibility of panicky children.

[pondspider]

Small ones move fast. Fun. Chase. Partake. Big ones take small ones away. Anger. No fun. No partake. Master displeased.

[Algernon Sydney is Dead]

That's about the size of it.