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Yellowstone Wolf

27 June 2018
Biology

Wolves were re-introduced to the Yellowstone National Park in the mid 1990s and have generally received a good press (especially in TV wildlife programmes and in the media in general). The elk of the park are their chief prey animal and it was thought the re-introduction would alter their behaviour – creating a 'landscape of fear' as the saying goes (the wolf controlling elk numbers etc) – see www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180622104544.htm … We now have a study that shows such a landscape of fear has mostly failed to materialise as elk still visit their old haunts where they are prone to predation by the wolves. It seems the wolf is not an around the clock threat to elk. They like a sleep at night and a long siesta during daylight hours. They hunt mostly at dawn and dusk and the elk are free to roam wherever they choose at other times – without fear of being attacked.

 

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