It is a popular claim made by animal rights groups: reintroducing the wolf spawns widespread ecological change for the better in rivers and landscapes that starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles to the bottom. The thing is, while a few scientists promote the theory of trophic cascade others simply do not believe it.
“It’s a really romantic story,” Utah State University ecologist Dan McNulty, Utah State University ecologist, told AccuWeather.com. “It’s a story about a world that doesn’t really exist.”
Looking at the history of Yellowstone Park, a professor at Colorado State University, Tom Hobbs, said there is no denying the fact that removing wolves from Yellowstone years ago had an impact on the landscape. However, he also said there is a “disagreement on what happens when you put it back.”
“It’s a lovely story, and I would love this to be true, but it isn’t,” Hobbs told AccuWeather.com.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation previously sent a letter to its members in Colorado and Utah highlighting specific scientific Yellowstone-area research in contrast to the theory of trophic cascade.
(Photo source: National Park Service/Jim Peaco)