I loved this and learned so much about the issue. I come down on the side of the wolves, but one can’t help but appreciate the fears and frustrations of people who chose to settle in wolf country when the population had been decimated
People don't understand that its not as simple as just hunting the same amount of deer/elk as the wolves would in order to keep the ecosystem healthy. Predators like wolves change the behavior of the prey species in ways that hunting by humans just doesn't do.
You’re totally right, however, your example of deer is a good one, we nearly wiped the out 100 years ago, now their numbers are so high that the combination of invasive plants and extremely high deer numbers is destroying, or has already destroyed the woodlands in the eastern US. Without intervention our woods will collapse in 50-100 years, the deer eat the bark or entire new shoots of tree saplings, if you look there are mature trees and semi mature trees … and lots of 1-2year old saplings that will get eaten. That’s to say nothing chronic wasting disease which is ripping thru the deer population… We over hunted, then over protected them, now we’re going to have to overhunt them again or we can watch as they all die a long miserable death and leave the ground covered with prions… hope it doesn’t cross species
i dont think this topic is nuanced or hard to decide on at all, personally. Large quanbtities of prey animals is BAD. there are so many excess of them from rabbits to gofers to Elk and deer and other animals that EAT AND EAT AND EAT. ive had whole farms in my region be COMPLETELY ruined by prey animals overpopulation. Wolves are GOOD actually. Maybe not in the MILLIONS but predators hold a very important place in the eco system. Being afraid for you cows and kids is fine, but what your telling me with that, is that you didnt do anything about predator protection in the FIRST place and dont want to have to.
I am so sad and angry for the red and black wolves often over looked in this fight for conservation. Social creatures, just like us; however not tamed, i dont think man is tame at all. In 13 minutes this video sums it up a lot, but indigenous populations and mythology/folklore about wolves REALLY contributed to this. Especially when pelts were more than for luxury.
Millions? Best estimates are like around 50000 for all of North America, wolves are too much of an apex predator for their population to get that high they'd kill way too many animals. Overall world population was only about 2 million.
We are so arrogant as to think that our “naive” ancestors exterminated the predators in their neighborhood out of convenience. That was a simple risk assessment. And humans always come first. Always! We in Germany have not only released the lynx back into the wild (you never see it because it only preys on small game and is very shy and doesn't dare to hunt livestock near settlements) but also the wolf. And this predator does not fit into such densely populated countries because it also hunts close to settlements and moves through towns. Just recently in Germany, a woman on an e-bike on her way to work was chased by three wolves that had been looking for a way over the fence in front of a paddock. Even if they were just curious and their hunting instincts were triggered because the woman quickly fled from them on her bike, I don't want to imagine the trauma a person would suffer. It's scary to go out into nature on your doorstep (we're not allowed to carry guns) I don't want to learn to live with predators. If they don't know and accept human boundaries (like the lynx), then they need to be hunted to learn. In my opinion, humans always come first. Always!
Germany and the us are vary different your human population is also a lot more concentrated than the us population most of the places where the wolfs are being put back have under a million people in that state they will also help the natural environment improve
I loved this and learned so much about the issue. I come down on the side of the wolves, but one can’t help but appreciate the fears and frustrations of people who chose to settle in wolf country when the population had been decimated
Thanks Linda!
People don't understand that its not as simple as just hunting the same amount of deer/elk as the wolves would in order to keep the ecosystem healthy. Predators like wolves change the behavior of the prey species in ways that hunting by humans just doesn't do.
You’re totally right, however, your example of deer is a good one, we nearly wiped the out 100 years ago, now their numbers are so high that the combination of invasive plants and extremely high deer numbers is destroying, or has already destroyed the woodlands in the eastern US.
Without intervention our woods will collapse in 50-100 years, the deer eat the bark or entire new shoots of tree saplings, if you look there are mature trees and semi mature trees … and lots of 1-2year old saplings that will get eaten.
That’s to say nothing chronic wasting disease which is ripping thru the deer population…
We over hunted, then over protected them, now we’re going to have to overhunt them again or we can watch as they all die a long miserable death and leave the ground covered with prions… hope it doesn’t cross species
awesome video
Thanks for watching! And awesome videos yourself :)
Great video on a hot button topic! Also, who was that handsome speaker? We need more of that guy...
Appreciate it John 😆
i dont think this topic is nuanced or hard to decide on at all, personally. Large quanbtities of prey animals is BAD. there are so many excess of them from rabbits to gofers to Elk and deer and other animals that EAT AND EAT AND EAT. ive had whole farms in my region be COMPLETELY ruined by prey animals overpopulation. Wolves are GOOD actually. Maybe not in the MILLIONS but predators hold a very important place in the eco system.
Being afraid for you cows and kids is fine, but what your telling me with that, is that you didnt do anything about predator protection in the FIRST place and dont want to have to.
👍
I am so sad and angry for the red and black wolves often over looked in this fight for conservation. Social creatures, just like us; however not tamed, i dont think man is tame at all. In 13 minutes this video sums it up a lot, but indigenous populations and mythology/folklore about wolves REALLY contributed to this. Especially when pelts were more than for luxury.
Good points on folklore and pelts. And let’s go red wolves 🙏🔥
Millions? Best estimates are like around 50000 for all of North America, wolves are too much of an apex predator for their population to get that high they'd kill way too many animals. Overall world population was only about 2 million.
The experts we interviewed as well as our research said about a million in North America 🤷♂️
We are so arrogant as to think that our “naive” ancestors exterminated the predators in their neighborhood out of convenience. That was a simple risk assessment. And humans always come first. Always!
We in Germany have not only released the lynx back into the wild (you never see it because it only preys on small game and is very shy and doesn't dare to hunt livestock near settlements) but also the wolf. And this predator does not fit into such densely populated countries because it also hunts close to settlements and moves through towns. Just recently in Germany, a woman on an e-bike on her way to work was chased by three wolves that had been looking for a way over the fence in front of a paddock. Even if they were just curious and their hunting instincts were triggered because the woman quickly fled from them on her bike, I don't want to imagine the trauma a person would suffer. It's scary to go out into nature on your doorstep (we're not allowed to carry guns) I don't want to learn to live with predators. If they don't know and accept human boundaries (like the lynx), then they need to be hunted to learn. In my opinion, humans always come first. Always!
Germany and the us are vary different your human population is also a lot more concentrated than the us population most of the places where the wolfs are being put back have under a million people in that state they will also help the natural environment improve
That’s one strong vote for humanism!
They are meant to be in Germany, though. Same as they’re meant to be in Yellowstone.
Proof: they are native.