They are efficient hunters. They are skilled survivors in an unforgiving landscape. And they were once the kings of the northern Rocky Mountains.

During the past century, wolves were hunted almost to extinction. The famous call of the wild was lost in the lower 48 states.

The gray wolves of the northern Rockies were hunted mercilessly during the early part of the 20th century, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered to eradicate the gray wolf. The last pups were killed in 1924.

The slaughter of gray wolves dramatically reduced wildlife diversity and biodiversity in the Rocky Mountain states. And it changed the way the ecosystems functioned in the northern and western part of the United States. Wolves were seen as predators who threatened livestock. Hunters and ranchers carelessly continued to kill wolves, oblivious to the damage they were causing within Rocky Mountain ecosystems. Read more ...