THE CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY OF RECOVERING WOLF POPULATIONS

The gray wolf once inhabited a wide variety of habitats throughout mos t of the northern hemisphere north of 20-degrees-N latitude. Because t he animal preyed on livestock and competed with humans for wild prey, it was extirpated from much of its range outside of wilderness areas. Environmental awareness in the late 1960s brought for the wolf legal p rotection, increased research, and favorable media coverage. The speci es has increased in both Europe and North America, is beginning to reo ccupy semiwilderness and agricultural land, and is causing increased d amage to livestock. Because of the wolf's high reproductive rate and l ong dispersal tendencies, the animal can recolonize many more areas. I n most such areas control will be necessary, but the same public senti ments that promoted wolf recovery reject control. If wolf advocates co uld accept control by the public rather than by the government, wolves could live in far more places. Insistence on government control disco urages some officials and government agencies from promoting recovery. The use of large- or small-scale zoning for wolf management may help resolve the issue. Public education is probably the most effective way to minimize the problem and maximize wolf recovery, but the effort mu st begin immediately.