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Rochelle Yuan
Lynda Haas
WR 39C
August 18, 2016
Stop the Hunting of Wolves
In Empire of the Summer Moon, S. C. Gwynne writes of an 1860 army attack on a camp
in which canines defended their masters; this may have been the beginning of the human-wolf
domesticated relationship (Safina 224). Since that time, as Barry Lopezs classic 1978 book on
the subject, Of Wolves and Men, suggests, the wolf exerts a powerful influence on the human
imagination (4). Much of that imagination, consisting of our desire to hunt what is unknown to
us, fears and hates wolves, which has resulted in violence towards them, even when the reasons
for fear and hatred are countered by close observation (Humans versus Wolves). The scientific
research on wolves proves that they possess social behaviors unequivocally similar to those of
humans, and that no two species are more alike than wolves and humans (236). Based on
these conclusions, we must now question the morality of human mistreatment of wolves, such as
unnecessary hunting, which results in diminishing what little land they have left and bringing
them to the edge of extinction. Instead, humans can coexist with wolves, a solution that has been
studied and has proven to be a success as a win-win situation for both parties. On the other hand,
people wonder why these wolves deserve their attention. What is so wrong about creating more
space for our own species? They dont look like us, they dont act like us, they dont think like

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us (Yourofsksy) is often what people claim. Hence, the idea that humans and wolves are similar
and that wolves have a human-like social cognition (Safina 223) must be addressed.
Adolescent humans and wolves behave in a more juvenile way because they are still
growing and learning. Harry Frank and Martha Gialdini Franks 1982 study On the effects of
domestication on canine social development and behavior published in Applied Animal
Ethology, compares four Eastern timber wolves and four Alaskan Malamutes, who were fostered
by the same female wolf and reared under conditions deemed natural only to domestic dogs, to
discuss the well-known aggression in wolves and the effects of domestication on the same type
of behavior in domestic dogs (508). The Franks noted how the wolf pups show agonistic
behavior that may be innate, but that also involves their maturation and interaction probably
mediated by an innate teaching mechanism, considering how they were not raised in the wild.
Adversely, the effects of domestication on dominance behavior of dogs causes selection
pressures against aggression to relax, as dogs probably elicit submissive responses more for
attention rather than in response to domination (517-519). As wolves transitioned to dogs in
human households and became less aggressive, humans have [also] undergone a reduction in
environmental awareness in parallel to domestic species (Safina 235) according to archaeologist
Colin Groves, such that they relied on each other for protection (by wolves) or for food and
shelter (by humans).
Besides the fact that wolves and humans alike have domesticated themselves (Safina 234)
and evolved with each other, a hierarchy still stands in each species because conflict is a part of
every relationship. Greg Moran analyzed Long-term patterns of agonistic interactions in a
captive group of wolves (Canis lupus), a 1982 study published in Animal Behaviour. Moran

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recorded agonistic interactions in a group of captive, grey wolves for 21 months (75-76). He
described various aspects of their interactions and categorized different types of approaches and
described relationships between different wolves, leading to a total of 2823 interactions of all
kinds (77-81). He then concludes that some aspects of the distribution of agonistic interactions
are consistent with the predictions of an underlying dominance hierarchy social organization. A
dominance hierarchy may also relate to how in the Franks study, aggression in wolf pups was
innate. Such a hierarchy will thereby emerge as the wolves mature. Nevertheless, Moran was
able to see a hierarchical social organization within a pack, similar to how humans live with
families that usually contain a male and female head, alphas, and subordinates. Often, the
subordinates would listen to their alphas in both species or end up fighting, attempting to assert
dominance.
Tying into this struggle for dominance, Candice Baan, and her team from the University
of Neuchtel in Switzerland, observed free-living wolves in Yellowstone National Park from
2008-2009, and 2014, and published their results as Conflict management in free-ranging
wolves, Canis lupus in Animal Behaviour. Baan et. al. acquired their evidence by video, filming
two free-ranging packs of grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park, who were accustomed to
humans observing them, and recording all possible social interactions so they could analyze and
document them (328). Because of wolves high interdependence on each other for survival, Baan
discusses how reconciliation, although mostly asymmetric (initiated by subordinates towards
dominants), is highly favored in free-ranging wolves in order to reduce social tension and restore
social peace (331). However, the results suggest that this occurs because of the benefits the
subordinates would derive from cooperative hunting, cooperative breeding, and cooperation in

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defense of the territory and related resources from their stronger counterpart (Baan 332). Such
interactions are a display of a dominance hierarchy mentioned by Moran, a social organization
that erupted from a base of innate aggression in wolves as studied by the Franks. More often than
not, subordinates would end up taking the first step in reconciling with their higher-ups, which
could happen in said packs, or in families in the human world. Of course, the more dominant
individual would have the best chance at helping the family or pack survive, so its inevitable
that the more submissive individual would benefit the most out of a healthy relationship between
them.
The social behaviors of free and captive wolves detailed in countless studies by
prominent researchers shed light on human and wolf similarity, which forces us to acknowledge
the impact our actions have on their lives. There was once a time when they thrived in the
territory they lived; however, by 1930, humans had wiped wolves off 95 percent of their
holdings in the lower forty-eight states (Safina 169). Over several recent years, the federal
government weakened wolf protections, claiming that 30 breeding pairs and 300 wolves in the
entire northern Rocky Mountain region constituted a recovered population (Safina 169-170).
Ever since this recovered wolf population, hunting began occurring again with no limit to it,
something that had originally wiped out so much of the population before; even though some
may believe such a population is recovered, a constant battle between their listing and delisting
oftentimes results in more casualties that couldve easily been prevented (see Figure 1).
Essentially, we cast out wolves because they are not like us, and they become a metaphor for
the feral and pre-civilized, the gang, for the people living outside the bounds of convention and
conformity (Safina 170). Keeping this in mind, how can humans continue to hunt wolves the
way they do?

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In Europes Middle Ages, wolves werent just exterminated; they were persecuted.
Centuries later, in America, trapped wolves were sometimes set on fire, or had their lower jaws
cut off or wired shut before being released to slowly starve (Safina 171). Doesnt this speak for
itself that humans need to protect wolves and stop hurting them for what animal activist Gary
Yourofsky has called asinine and moronic excuses? Although scientists have come to
acknowledge the significance of wolf life, leading to the enactment of the Endangered Species
Act in 1973 and the listing of gray wolves among the first species protected (Humans Versus
Wolves), anti-wolf legislations that allow for mass killing of wolves, who are still at the brink of
extinction, continue to emerge. Several substantive studies discuss the negative effects human
encroachment has caused wolves, primarily hunting, and indicate that these killings should teach
human beings a lesson in how to treat the natural world.
Most studies of wolves do not focus on their hormone levels; they are not as common as
those involving raw numbers that measure wolf populations. In 2014, Heather Bryan from the
University of Calgary co-authored Heavily Hunted Wolves Have Higher Stress and
Reproductive Steroids than Wolves with Lower Hunting Pressure, in the journal Functional
Ecology. Her team compared steroid hormone levels in hair of wolves living in Canadas tundrataiga that experience heavy rates of hunting with those in the northern boreal forest where
hunting pressure is substantially lower (348-349). Because their data provides the first baseline
on chronic levels of stress and reproductive hormones in wolf hair, Bryan and her team
broadened the range of wolf studies (354). Their measurements revealed that wolves from
heavily hunted populations had higher steroid hormone levels (Bryan 350-351), which lead to the
conclusion that hunting can disrupt a wolf packs complex social structure, alter normal

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reproductive behavior and introduce chronic stress that may have evolutionary consequences.
These high levels can also decrease pack size, resulting in altered predation patterns, increased
time spent defending kill sites from scavengers, and may lead to increased conflict with humans
and livestock (Bryan 351-352). More conflict with humans, namely hunting, could result in more
conflict with livestock, as seen in the next study.
In most stable social groups, wolves have only one litter per year, but a disruption can
cause multiple litters per social group to become more common. Robert B. Wielgus, an associate
professor of wildlife ecology, and his co-author Kaylie Peebles, assessed the Effects of Wolf
Mortality on Livestock Depredations in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming from 1987 to 2012.
They collected data on the confirmed number of cattle and sheep depredated, wolf population
estimates, number of breeding pairs, and the number of wolves killed in the wolf-occupied area
of each state for each year from the United States Fish and Wildlife Services Interagency Annual
Wolf Reports (2). The data was then analyzed using a negative binomial generalized linear model
to test for the expected negative relationship between the number of livestock depredated in the
current year and the number of wolves controlled the previous year (1). They found that the
number of livestock depredated was positively associated with the number of livestock and the
number of breeding pairs. It appears that lethal wolf control to reduce the number of livestock
depredated is associated with increased, not decreased, depredations the following year, on a
large scale at least until wolf mortality exceeds 25% (Wielgus 11). Wolf pack stability is crucial
to controlling the impact of wolves on livestock, but wolf packs disrupted by culling can
reorganize, which may lead to more breeding and thus more livestock killed in the year after a
wolf reduction than before (Wieglus 12). Essentially, the more state-led hunting we allow, the

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more livestock will wind up dead as well. Earthjustice, the nations original and largest nonprofit environmental law organization, documents the battle between delisting and listing
Northern Rocky Gray Wolves under the Endangered Species List that had first emerged in order
protect species that are likely to become extinct (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. A timeline of the fight for ESA protection for Northern Rocky gray wolves.
Source: http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/wolves-in-danger-timeline-milestones
Although the conservation groups had won, they were not able to avoid the aftermath of loss due
to the government allowing humans to juggled with wolf life.
Maureen Hackett, president and founder of Minnesota-based Howling for Wolves,
explains why gray wolves, who are native to the state of Minnesota, should not be hunted. She
says that not many animals make it off the Endangered Species List alive, and the same year
(2012) the Minnesota gray wolf was removed, it was hunted and trapped for recreational
purposes; Wolves were killed at random in the wild, not just those in conflict with farmers

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(Hackett). Imagine being in the shoes of those wolves, hunted for sport and forced to scurry
away with their tail between their legs as their homeland is taken from them. Acts like these
cause Yourofsky to come to the conclusion that if you take out humans, it benefits all other
species. Even if wolves were in conflict with farmers, Wieglus revealed that the number of
livestock killed, of wolf breeding pairs, and of wolves killed each year were correlated. Thus, as
more wolves die with the excuse that theyre killing farm animals, more livestock is being killed
as a result. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), eighty percent
of the public did not support the wolf hunt in Minnesota, but it still occurred (Hackett). Hackett
sheds light on how legislators can suspend such killing and stop the indiscriminate methods and
how it is important that the DNR and the legislature focus on the idea that stopping wolf hunts
are important to the state of Minnesota and its residents.
Some may wonder what is the point to wolf protection? Why do we need to stop hunting
them if they dont benefit us in any way? Wayne Pacelle, President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), addresses in his blog how clear it is that
wolves provide an enormous economic and ecological benefit. Wolves boost tourism-related
commerce and limit deer and moose populations, depressing crop depredation and shrinking the
number of collisions between these animals and cars as a result. Its evidential that they impact
ecosystems in a positive way by killing the weak, sick, and older prey. The fact that they do
provide such balancing effects proves that humans can even coexist with them, such as what
Wood Wolf Valley Project has accomplished in Idaho. Wolves positive effect on ecosystems will
in turn, help humans in the dealing of overpopulation of a species with no predator. There wont
be any moral controversy over how we should deal with them if we just coexist with wolves.

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Furthermore, citizens can help protect wolves by at least learning about what they do for
the environment. Defenders of Wildlife, a major national conservation organization founded in
1947, explains in 2014 how, Coexisting with Wolves in Idahos Wood River Valley by using
nonlethal methods for keeping wolves from preying on livestock proves that people dont need
to hunt wolves. Defenders implemented the Wood River Wolf Project in 2007 that has become a
model of success; it involves drawing on experience and a suite of proactive methods and tools
that are nonlethal. It has (1) kept sheep losses to wolves at less than 1 percent90 percent lower
than losses reported in the rest of the stateand wolves killed by wildlife control agents to zero,
(2) provided agencies and livestock cooperators with training in nonlethal deterrent techniques,
(3) co-sponsored wolf-livestock coexistence workshops to educate people about this method, and
(4) served as a testing ground for nonlethal coexistence methods. This project demonstrates the
benefits of cooperative existence because it (1) reduces livestock predation by wolves and other
predators, (2) lessens the impact of livestock grazing on wolves, (3) contributes to economic
sustainability and reduces the cost of wolf-livestock management, (4) improves community
support of ranching and conservation coexistence practices, (5) increases tolerance for native
wildlife, and (6) enhances scientific knowledge of nonlethal methods.
Such coexistence ties into ecology expert Mohsen Ahmadis 2014 study of Spatial
Heterogeneity in Human Activities Favors the Persistence of Wolves in Agroecosystems, where
Ahmadi et. al. combined information measured at landscape and fine spatial scales, and
generalized linear models to identify patterns of 35 different den sites in agroecosystems (2-5).
They concluded that wolves, as many other large carnivores, do not strictly require areas devoid
of humans, showing a high ability adapting to multiple landscapes that are used (6). Their results

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show how the heterogeneity in human activities emerges as a key factor favoring the persistence
of wolves in agroecosystems; thus, vulnerability of wolves, and other large carnivore species, in
human-dominated landscapes could be compensated by the existence of spatial heterogeneity in
human activities, favoring a land sharing model of coexistence between large carnivores and
people (7-9). If we combine these two examples of coexistent success between humans and
wolves, we can ultimately prevent the needless hunting of them.
In addition, social media has become an important part of today's society. Clay Shirkey,
an American writer, consultant, and teacher on the social economic effects of Internet
technologies, conveys in a TEDTalk about "How Social Media Can Make History that "media is
increasingly less just a source of information and is increasingly more a sight of coordination"
and gives an example of how "we are increasingly in a landscape where media is global, social,
ubiquitous and cheap" through China's 2008 earthquake. According the Shirkey, the Chinese
citizens learned that the reason so many school buildings collapsed due to this earthquake was
because corrupt officials took bribes and allowed them to be built to less-than code. Of course
these officials didn't want their people to find out, but the media was produced so quickly and in
such abundance that they couldnt filter it. This is much like how social media is in the modern
world. Through personal experience, its so hard to live in the modern world without using social
media due to the fact that everybody uses it on a day-to-day basis and that you wouldnt know
what is happening in the world without it. People even obtain their news through Twitter rather
than the actual news channels because it is so much faster. Therefore, we can use social media
platforms, such as Twitter, to spread the negative impacts humans have on wolves and why we
should have coexistence rather than laws intended to protect them. Laws are not enough, as

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demonstrated by Figure 1. As long as the public is informed, there is more possibility that they
will act on it. Like how the Chinese citizens obtained information about the school buildings,
American citizens could, in turn, learn about why wolves and natural wildlife should be helped
by sharing it on all of their social media platforms in an effort to stop the unnecessary hunting of
wolves.
These creatures, once brought to the brink of extinction, should be allowed to survive in
the decades ahead and not have their packs ceaselessly battered by random and reckless killing
by trophy hunters and commercial trappers (Pacelle). One of the most powerful forces in the
wolfs corner is the American public, and time and time again, public opinion has supported such
creatures; thus, as part of the American people, you can do so again as easily as just signing and
sharing a petition: http://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/protect-americas-wolves (Howling for
Wolves).

Works Cited
Ahmadi M, Lpez-Bao JV, Kaboli M (2014) Spatial Heterogeneity in Human Activities Favors
the Persistence of Wolves in Agroecosystems. PLoS ONE 9(9): e108080.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108080
Bryan, Heather M., Judit E. G. Smits, Lee Koren, Paul C. Paquet, Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards,
and Marco Musiani. "Heavily Hunted Wolves Have Higher Stress and Reproductive

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Steroids than Wolves with Lower Hunting Pressure." Functional Ecology 29.9 (2014):
347-56. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12354
Lopez, Barry Holstun. Of Wolves and Men. New York: Scribner, 1978.
Safina, Carl. Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. New York, NY: Henry Holt,
2015.
Wielgus RB, Peebles KA (2014) Effects of Wolf Mortality on Livestock Depredations. PLoS
ONE 9(12): e113505. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113505
Yourofsky, Gary. "Through the Eyes of an Animal: A Lecture by Gary Yourofsky." Youtube. 20
April 2015.
"Coexisting with Wolves in Idaho's Wood River Valley." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 2014.
"Finding Solutions for Wolves - Wayne Pacelle's Blog." A Humane Nation. N.p., 2015.
"Howling for Wolves." WildEarth Guardians. N.p., n.d.
"Humans versus Wolves." WildEarth Guardians. N.p., n.d.
Press, Pioneer. "Maureen Hackett: The Gray Wolf Should Not Be Hunted." Twin Cities. N.p.,
2014.

AP Peer Review--RUBRIC OF OBJECTIVES

Trait

Description

Above

Introduction

The introductory paragraphs set up the topic

in an interesting way, provide some
background, and foreshadow the
problem/solution.

Meets

Below

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Comments: Your intro draws readers in and lets them know what you are going to discuss
Review of the
scientific
literature

The foundation of the advocacy project

is a well-written and relevant review
of scientific studies about the
animals impacted by the issue
being covered. This review of the
literature is presented with a historical
framework and is logically connected
to the presentation of the problem
and the solutions offered.

Comments: Good review of literature it looks like you put a lot of effort into finding and
understanding the studies
Statement of the
Problem

The composition clearly presents a

significant political/social/cultural
problem and establishes the problems
urgency, scope, and severity. The
problem is clearly framed and focused;
it is not presented as the writers
opinion, but is a sourced
argument, backed up with credible
sources.

Comments: Good statement and at times well used questions throughout your writing
Analysis of
Solutions

The composition presents and

analyzes solution(s) to the central
problem (global and grassroots
solutions offered). Rigorous and welldocumented arguments that
address a possible solution or solutions
are presented clearly.

Comments: Good use of presenting solutions and restating them in your conclusion. Try
adding what the professor discussed when it comes to social media
Counterargument

The composition anticipates and

responds effectively and appropriately

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to oppositional claims.
Comments:

Argumentoverall

The arguments throughout are

sophisticated, creative, persuasive,
insightful, and deeply embedded in
scholarly discourse. The arguments
are developed through the use of
expert support, persuasive
evidence, and well chosen
rhetorical appeals (ethos and
logos).

Comments: Well thought out.

Multi-Modal
Element(s)

Uses at least one multi-modal

element, and this element
strengthens and deepens
explanations, summaries, or
arguments. The element is correctly
captioned with MLA format. If there is
more than one multi-modal element
used, all of them communicate
information clearly and effectively and
help develop the ideas and argument.

Comments: Try adding more multi-modal elements and editing your figure one so its easier to
read

Organization

The project is well-organized and

easy to follow, with transitions, topic
sentences and/or headers to help guide
the reader; the presentation of
evidence is arranged coherently and

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demonstrates a well-documented
analytical synthesis. The organization
is deliberately paced, and
demonstrates a very high degree of
skill and control when moving from
idea to idea, paragraph to paragraph,
and sentence to sentence. Connections
are made throughout the essay to
create cohesion.
Comments: Good flow throughout

Scholarly Ethos

Throughout the composition, the writer

illustrates the scholarly ethos of a
well-informed, objective, and
credible advocate.

Comments: You seemed very informed great work

Sources:
Credibility and
Evidence

The selected sources are credible for

a scholarly audience and offer clear,
relevant support to all of the
compositions argumentative moves.

Comments: Good use of sources

Source
Integration

The author integrates the sources

seamlessly into the composition and
properly introduces them.
Wherever appropriate, MLA format
citations are used correctly throughout.

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Comments: Good intergration of sources

Clarity, Sentence
Structure, Word
Choice-Readability

The writing is clear, eloquent,

characterized by precise word
choice, purposeful sentences with
varied structure, and a high degree of
readability for the level of its course
and this particular assignment. Few
errors of grammar, language, and
usage are found, and if there are small
errors, they do not detract from
readability.

Comments: I would look at some of my suggestions on breaking up sentences but overall

good job.

Required
Elements

Page length, number of sources, and

included content as described in prompt
meet the minimum requirements. The
essay is formatted correctly using MLA
formatting (this includes margins, page
number location, and page 1 header).

Comments: Great work!

1.) Try adding more multi-model elements also try making the one you have easier
to read.
2.) I would suggest breaking up some of your sentences because some are very
long. Possibly look over the ones I commented on and see if you can split them into two
or three sentences.