This Gray Wolf has something to say
Zephyr is a captive-born gray wolf at the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC), a 501c3 non-profit organization, in South Salem, NY. The soon to be 4-year-old wolf is among the four 'ambassador wolves' at the WCC that help teach the public about wolves and their vital role in the environment.
Oregon biologists claim loss of landscape's predators has led to the 'unravelling' of environment No trace remains of the wolves whose howls ricocheted for millennia down the lush valleys of the Olympic peninsula in Washington state.
Settlers and trappers killed them all in little more than three decades. But the loss of the stealthy predators in the early 1900s left a hole in the landscape that scientists say they are just beginning to grasp. The ripples extend throughout what is now Olympic National Park, leading to a boom in elk populations, overbrowsing of shrubs and trees, and erosion so severe it has altered the very nature of the rivers, says a team of Oregon State University biologists.
The result, they argue, is an environment that is less rich, less resilient and - perhaps - in peril. "We think this ecosystem is unravelling in the absence of wolves," said OSU ecologist William Ripple.
Zephyr is a captive-born gray wolf at the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC), a 501c3 non-profit organization, in South Salem, NY. The soon to be 4-year-old wolf is among the four 'ambassador wolves' at the WCC that help teach the public about wolves and their vital role in the environment.
Oregon biologists claim loss of landscape's predators has led to the 'unravelling' of environment No trace remains of the wolves whose howls ricocheted for millennia down the lush valleys of the Olympic peninsula in Washington state.
Settlers and trappers killed them all in little more than three decades. But the loss of the stealthy predators in the early 1900s left a hole in the landscape that scientists say they are just beginning to grasp. The ripples extend throughout what is now Olympic National Park, leading to a boom in elk populations, overbrowsing of shrubs and trees, and erosion so severe it has altered the very nature of the rivers, says a team of Oregon State University biologists.
The result, they argue, is an environment that is less rich, less resilient and - perhaps - in peril. "We think this ecosystem is unravelling in the absence of wolves," said OSU ecologist William Ripple.
VIDEO
That sound always gives me goose bumps and shivers down my spine.