Elk are perhaps the most controversial
and talked about aspect of wolf recovery.
And that's odd because elk are a species unto themselves.
But many people equate Yellowstone with elk.
That's arguably our most famous species.
They've been debated and studied since the late 1800s.
Elk are iconic in the West as a huntable species.
And so elk are very important.
And wolves eat elk.
So do cougars. So do bears.
So do coyotes. A lot of things eat elk.
People eat elk, and so the system
in many ways hinges on elk.
So what wolves and other carnivores
do to elk is very important.
And very simply, prior to wolf recovery,
predation pressure by natural carnivores was very low.
No wolves, no cougars, few bears.
Bears were here, but their numbers were lower.
And that caused the elk population to grow
to very large numbers.
In fact, a lot of ecologists and scientists
criticized Yellowstone for having too many elk.
The effect of elk was so dominant on the ecosystem,
that they suppressed other things.
To the point where managers outside the park
were hunting elk at high rates to try
and depress this burgeoning elk herd.
With our wolf recovery in the mid-90s,
with natural cougar recolonization,
with growth in the bear population
after decades at low numbers,
predation pressure has increased,
accompanied by the management
practices outside the park where people are hunting elk.
All of these things together
have caused the elk population to decline.
And the park service considers that a success story.
And that's hard to describe to a lot of people,
especially some people who can't
understand how less is more.
We live in a culture where more is always better,
but fewer elk brings about that ecosystem balance,
that biodiversity that the park service seeks as natural.
And that's a very important goal for the park service.
So having these large carnivores,
and Yellowstone may be the place
in North America that's got the best mix of
diversity and density of large carnivores.
That will affect the elk population to lower.
But we're arguing as a park service that
that's more natural or healthier,
which is defined as better for the system.
And this is a very hard thing to convey,
because a lot of people liked a lot more elk.
It's better hunting.
And so, this is a complex relationship.
But wolves have contributed, not solely,
to a decline in elk.