Gray wolves, or timber wolves, are large, charismatic carnivores that have been mentioned as candidates for reintroduction into the northeastern United States.
The wolf was eliminated from the Northeast by the end of the 19th century via relentless hunting by people who feared this predator. During the 1800s, for instance, Pennsylvanians were paid a $25 bounty for a wolf head. With the passage of the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, the gray wolf was given complete protection in the lower 48 states. Wolf populations have since increased and expanded in some areas where they were once scarce or absent. Today, the gray wolf has its strongest foothold in Minnesota, with about 2,000 wolves present by the late 1990s.
Recovery plans for gray wolf populations in the northern Rockies began in 1985 when the National Park Service proposed the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. But to successfully reintroduce a population of wolves into the Northeast, an area of at least 3,000 square kilometers is required, which would sustain at least 100 wolves. Such an area doesn't necessarily have to be free of human disturbance, provided that adequate prey is available and wolves are not indiscriminately killed. One area that has recently been given attention as a possible location for reintroduction of wolves in the Northeast consists of 77,000 square kilometers of suitable, contiguous habitat, extending from upstate New York to northern Maine. This area is projected to be large enough to sustain a population of about 1,300 wolves. Densities of wolves in the Northeast will depend on the availability of two important prey species, white-tailed deer and moose. What time is it when five wolves are chasing a deer? Five after one.
Wildlife biologists must have additional considerations for reintroducing gray wolves into the Northeast. For example, it would require high populations of prey. In addition, gray wolves that inhabit the Northeast may hybridize with resident coyotes, thereby "genetically diluting" the wolf population. A third consideration is that wolves are wide-ranging and do not recognize boundaries between public and private lands. Hence, protection of "stray" wolves needs to extend beyond any designated "nature reserve" and include a buffer zone.
