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Biologist says wolves won't decimate prey
Expert counters views held by wolf haters and wolf lovers.

By Rebecca Huntington

LANDER ­ World-renowned wolf biologist David Mech disagrees with predictions that wolves will exterminate prey populations and devastate the environment.

"I haven't seen any evidence of a bad effect on the ecosystem," Mech said during a lecture here last week that drew more than 200 people.

While Mech countered claims that wolves would decimate big game herds, he also disagreed with views that wolves are a boon to the state.

Mech has been studying wolves full-time since 1958 and has written 10 books on the subject. He also has been studying interactions between wolves and elk in Yellowstone National Park since the predators were reintroduced there in 1995. Mech is founder of the International Wolf Center.

He acknowledged that the northern Yellowstone elk herd has been declining since the federal government transplanted wolves from Canada to the park. However, many factors are at play, including black bears, cougars, coyotes, wolverines, human hunters, drought and severe winters, he said.

"How can you blame wolves for anything when all these factors are involved?" he asked.

Mech said there is only one scientifically documented example where wolves wiped out a big game population. Several hundred deer were eliminated from a corner of Minnesota and have not returned, he said. But big game herds are thriving elsewhere in the state, which is home to 2,500 wolves. With slightly more land and far fewer people, Wyoming is home to 235 wolves, he said.

While Mech debunked claims that wolves will wipe out Wyoming's wildlife, he similarly challenged wolf lovers claims that wolves benefit the state economy and ecosystem. Predictions that wolves would bring $23 million annually to the Yellowstone area through ecotourism did not take into account costs to other sectors, such as ranching and hunting, he said.

Moreover, wolves may alter the ecosystem by reducing coyote numbers, for example, which some claim is a benefit, he said. But fewer coyotes might allow fox populations to increase, and foxes prey on birds, he said.

Mech also reiterated his position that Wyoming's plan to classify wolves as predators should not be a hurdle to recovery of the species. Mech said the plan would allow Wyoming to meet a federal goal of maintaining 15 wolf packs despite unregulated killing allowed under predator status.

The plan would work because it contains a provision to shrink predator zones should pack numbers fall below that goal, he said. Mech said he believed Wyoming would meet the 15-pack goal because it would be in the state's best interest. Otherwise, the federal government would put wolves back on the endangered species list and take away management from the state, he said.

Mech's approval of Wyoming's plan contrasts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to reject the plan. State officials refused to rewrite the plan and filed suit April 22 to challenge the rejection.

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