Wolf subspecies aggressive

Becky Kramer’s July 15 article, “Wolf attack surprised even officials,” needs some clarification. Fish and Wildlife stated: “Wolves are one of our native species.” One should understand that the Canadian wolves the government introduced into Yellowstone Park a decade ago were not a reintroduction of a native subspecies, but a very aggressive introduced subspecies that over the past decade has devastated the Yellowstone elk herd.

A Jan. 12, 2011, article at yellowstoneinsider.com states, “There has been about a 70 percent drop in the size of the northern elk herd from the 16,791 elk counted in 1995 and the start of wolf restoration to Yellowstone National Park.”

Understand native gray wolves are much smaller and do not engage in lust killing. Canadian gray wolves were not naturally found in the lower 48 states. The smaller gray wolf is our native. The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan was first approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980. The plan was “intended to provide direction and coordination for efforts toward recovery of at least two viable Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf (Canis Lupus Irremotus) populations in the lower 48 states.”

In 2008, it was removed from the federal list of endangered species.

Judy Crowder

Colbert