Kulturkampf

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https://theconversation.com/wolves-did-not-save-yellowstone-why-were-we-so-desperate-to-believe-they-did-292069

Wolves did not save Yellowstone – why were we so desperate to believe they did?

You might be among the 46 million people who’ve seen a video showing how wolves changed Yellowstone, or you may have heard some other version of this story. Yellowstone, which covers nearly 3,500 square miles of the western United States, was the world’s first national park. Its pioneering reintroduction of wolves, which began in 1995, set a worldwide precedent for conservation.

The first half of the story is well established. Wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone in the 1920s. With the wolves gone, populations of elk (a large species of deer) overgrew. Elk overgrazed the park’s riverbanks, turning groves of willow and aspen and beaver ponds into bare grasslands.

This process was swiftly reversed, or so the story goes, when wolves were reintroduced. Not only did wolves kill elk, keeping their numbers in check, but they also scared them away from the valleys, giving trees a chance to regrow.

A range of beneficial effects followed: beavers moved back and rebuilt their dams, and the regrown shrubs attracted more bears, who further helped keep elk in check.

It’s a neat and captivating story, widely cited as evidence that wolves can restore ecosystems and reforest the land. Unfortunately, reality is much more complicated.