Jordan Mundell

 Ecological importance  Wolf re-introduction  Politics  Media  Education and wolf hybrids  Big picture?

 Keystone species  Usually a predator  Regulator  Keeps system in check  “Boss” of the house  Maintain equilibrium

 Wolves are competition to hunters  Wolf population declines  “Trophic cascade”  “Natural ecosystem balance” altered

 Herbivore population grows out of control  Vegetation decreases  Diversity is loss  Landscape physically changes  In the 90s a reintroduction effort began by US and Canadian wildlife officials  How Wolves Change Rivers How Wolves Change Rivers

 One of first species to be listed on the Endangered Species List (1967)  Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan  U.S. Fish and Wildlife in 1987  “The primary goal of the plan is to remove the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf from the endangered and threatened species list by securing and maintaining a minimum of 10 breeding pairs of wolves in each of the three recovery areas for a minimum of three successive years.”

 Removed from Endangered List in 2009  Despite objections from environmental groups  Defenders of Wildlife et al v. Salazar (2011)  Debate: stable population? Hunting continues..

Vs. “Good”“Bad” “The average person's knowledge of wolves is based upon what they see in the media and the fairly tales they learned as children, neither of which are accurate. The media, especially film media, nearly always portray wolves as evil and sinister. A 'nice' wolf does not sell box office tickets.” -Michael Hodanish

 What they think:  Predator  Vicious  “Loners”  Reality:  Survivor  Timid  Social

 Gray Wolf: Canis lupus  Domestic Dog: Canis lupus familiaris  Wolfdog: hybridization

 Every state has different laws regarding hybrids  Some even vary from county to county   People are generally uneducated in the area  ”People rarely research exotic animal regulations of their State % of our applications come from states where wolfdogs are banned or regulated.” –MH  Confusion  “Northern breed dogs, such as Siberian huskies and Alaskan malamutes with no wolf DNA, are often mistaken for wolf-dogs or wolves.” -MH

 Owner: Michael Hodanish  A registered 501(c)(3) animal shelter for wolf hybrids and northern breed dogs  Provides education and information to the public

 Why are wolves important?  Teach us how to look at the environment  Importance of eco-centric outlook  Small changes can have monumental effects  Hard to predict the unknown

     food-web.html food-web.html  Michael Hodanish Michael Hodanish