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The Yellowstone Wolf Conflict In January 1995, fourteen wolves from Canada were released into Yellowstone National Park in the United States of America. This sparked the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction conflict. The wolves were released using the “soft-release” method, where an animal is fenced in a certain area so it can adapt to its new habitat, and then released into the wild. Wolves are predators. That means they prey, or eat, on other animals. Six wolves can eat up to eight hundred pounds of meat per month. Wolves are now off the endangered species list, but their biggest limiting factor, or object that prevents a population from growing, is humans. Humans have killed about two million wolves in the last century, but sane or healthy wolves have killed no humans. Wolf society is much like human society. That is, they have leaders, and individuals respected more than others. The alpha wolf, or leader of a pack, breeds with other wolves, organizes hunts and other various activities, and controls the pack. A beta wolf is second in rank, it plays with wolf cubs, and it gets more respect than omega wolves do.
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