Yellowstone wolves : science and discovery in the world's first national park

Summary: "There is perhaps no population of U.S. carnivores better studied than the wolves of Yellowstone. These iconic predators were reintroduced to the park in 1995, having been hunted nearly to the brink of extinction. From 1995 to 1997, 41 wild wolves from Canada and northwest Montana were released in to the park, and in the intervening decades scientists followed their every move-from predation to mating to wolf-pup play. The Yellowstone reintroduction has served as an incredible, one-of-a-kind field experiment: it allows us to witness how the arrival of top predators can change an entire ecosystem, providing a critical window into prey migration, pack composition, trophic effects, and much else. Yellowstone Wolves will be the first synthesis of what these animals have taught scientists, and it comes near the reintroduction program's 25th anniversary. It will also be the most authoritative; it includes contributions from nearly every wolf biologist working in America today. And unlike other recent wolf books that focus on a single aspect of wolf biology, this book moves between scales, including essays on the biology of the individual, the behavior of a pack, population genetics, and ecosystem-wide effects. The essays are framed by discussions of the history of reintroduction, and punctuated by short "guest essays" from luminaries in the wolf community. The book includes a foreword by Jane Goodall, and is supplemented by a 10-part, roughly 75-minute documentary film. The film will be hosted on our website. This book will likely supplant David Mech's Wolves, published by Chicago in 2003"--