Yellowstone Wolves: Science and Discovery in the World's First National Park

by Douglas W. Smith (Editor), Jane Goodall (Foreword), Daniel R. Stahler (Editor)

In 2020, it will have been twenty-five years since one of the greatest wildlife conservation and restoration achievements of the twentieth century took place: the reintroduction of wolves to the world’s first national park, Yellowstone. Eradicated after the park was established, then absent for seventy years, these iconic carnivores returned to Yellowstone in 1995 when the US government reversed its century-old policy of extermination and—despite some political and cultural opposition—began the reintroduction of forty-one wild wolves from Canada and northwest Montana. In the intervening decades, scientists have studied their myriad behaviors, from predation to mating to wolf-pup play, building a one-of-a-kind field study that has both allowed us to witness how the arrival of top predators can change an entire ecosystem and provided a critical window into impacts on prey, pack composition, and much else.

Here, for the first time in a single book, is the incredible story of the wolves’ return to Yellowstone National Park as told by the very people responsible for their reintroduction, study, and management. Anchored in what we have learned from Yellowstone, highlighting the unique blend of research techniques that have given us this knowledge, and addressing the major issues that wolves still face today, this book is as wide-ranging and awe-inspiring as the Yellowstone restoration effort itself. We learn about individual wolves, population dynamics, wolf-prey relationships, genetics, disease, management and policy, newly studied behaviors and interactions with other species, and the rippling ecosystem effects wolves have had on Yellowstone’s wild and rare landscape. Perhaps most importantly of all, the book also offers solutions to ongoing controversies and debates.

Featuring a foreword by Jane Goodall, beautiful images, a companion online documentary by celebrated filmmaker Bob Landis, and contributions from more than seventy wolf and wildlife conservation luminaries from Yellowstone and around the world, Yellowstone Wolves is a gripping, accessible celebration of the extraordinary Yellowstone Wolf Project—and of the park through which these majestic and important creatures once again roam.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Wolves, Science, Reference, Biology

344 pages, Hardcover

First published November 13, 2020

Reviews

[The Inquisitive Biologist]

Written by the very people who spent 25 years in the field studying these reintroduced wolves, Yellowstone Wolves is a formidable achievement that presents a wide range of scientific topics in a well-organised, readable, and beautifully illustrated book. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2021...

[Bree]

This is the most remarkable book on so many levels. I sought this out as an example of a natural system, a system disrupted violently, again and again, such that it set off a cascade of changes that damaged an ecosystem at large. Subject to mindsets of domination, fear and of course capitalism and the political, the park, and its flora and fauna have born the brunt of the worst of our humanity.

It is also one of the very best examples of the importance of taking a systems approach to complex challenges. The chapter on the trophic cascade shows so clearly the flow on effects of the removal of wolves from Yellowstone, and the countless examples of reactive solutions to isolated problems, which all largely failed to impact in positive and sustained ways. It was only when the system was viewed as a whole, and the wolves reintroduced, that the ecosystem began to holistically recover.

What was achieved in Yellowstone took a long time, and many errors. All credit to the many scientists, rangers and other stewards who played their part to help understand the system, and the right strategies to recover the balance. They have taught us all something about the power of observation, and the need to respect and care for the delicate ecosystems of life, in the natural world and beyond.

[Nancy Lewis]

Everything you ever wanted to know about wolves in Yellowstone.

[Amie Nixdorf]

I love reading about the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone. This presents a lot of information and what we do (and do not know) about multi-carnivore ecosystems. Thoroughly enjoyed!

[Thomas Ray]

Academic-ish. Does have photos.

[Nick Holden]

Staggering and breathtaking. I can't begin to comprehend the quality and quantity of work that went into this.

[Janet]

This book is good but was spoiled somewhat by the terrible kindle version - missing photos and broken lines with left margins at times. Don't buy the kindle version.