A new book on re-wilding that may be of interest.
The author weighs in on Wolf restoration in Colorado here.
He mentions how predators like wolves can restore balance to overbrowsing herbivores. This Moose study shows how dramatic that can be. I can vouch for the enclosure picture as I saw the same thing on the highlands. I watched the moose wipe out the hardwood regen and when the park added an exclusion cage, like the Norway one above, the results were the same.
For fans of Helen MacDonald’s H is for Hawk and Mary Roach, Erica Berry’s WOLFISH blends science, history, and cultural criticism in a years-long journey to understand our myths about wolves, and track one legendary wolf, OR-7, from the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon
Another new book take on the complexity of social attitudes about wolves and other wildlife.
Those dynamics are critical. Many natural environments are incredibly complex systems wavering near a “tipping point” of nearly irreversible transition from one distinct state to another. Each disruptive shock — caused by wildfires, storms, pollution and deforestation but also by species loss — perturbs an ecosystem’s stability. Past the tipping point, recovery is often impossible.
Re-wilding wildlife can often work but the pitfalls are huge.
Another rewilding success with an odd side event.
Endangered Mexican Wolves Reach Population Milestone in New Mexico and Arizona