Rewilding Success

By Addison Grote,  Grade 8 

Rewilding means restoring an area of land to a better state by reintroducing species of wild animals or plants. Rewilding is important because it restores the ecosystem to better health and more biodiversity.

One example of rewilding is the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone. Back in the 1920s wolves were hunted and killed off in Yellowstone National Park. With no wolves to control the elk and deer population, the population of these animals soared.

It may seem like a good thing for the elk and deer but it destroyed the ecosystem. Coyotes and bears, the other predators in Yellowstone, could not hunt and eat as many elk and deer as the wolves did so these herbivores overgrazed and ate the trees and native plants in the park resulting in birds leaving, rivers eroding, and biodiversity decline.

The ecosystem in Yellowstone was in severe danger. Scientists realized this and in 1995, 69 years later, wildlife biologists began to reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone national park.

But, it proved a bit tricky. The first 8 wolves to be reintroduced came from a park in Canada. The wildlife biologists were afraid that the wolves would head home to Canada once they released them, so they built pens for the wolves so they could get used to the habitat before running free throughout the park.

In March, the biologists opened the pen hoping that the wolves would stay. Unfortunately, two wolves, a male and a female that was pregnant with 8 pups went north and into Montana. The male was illegally shot by a man who later went to jail for it. The female and the 8 pups were rescued and put back into Yellowstone. Now, many of the wolves in Yellowstone are descendants of this wolf.

Since the wolves were reintroduced, the national park has thrived. The wolves hunted the elk and the deer and more aspen trees and wildlife returned. The health of the park was much better now with wolves. Birds, fish, and beavers were plentiful again as they hadn't been before.

Without wolves, there was one beaver colony in Yellowstone, but with the ecosystem back on its feet, the population of beavers grew. This proved to be a very good thing.

Beavers were previously in danger because they needed trees, including willow, to survive but the elk overgrazed the willow trees. The elk were now traveling around a lot more resulting in the willow trees being able to grow back after being partially eaten by the elk.

Elk being hunted = willow trees recovering

Willow trees recovering = bird and beaver populations grow

Beaver population growing = more beaver dams.

More beaver dams = healthier rivers and streams, bringing more fish to them.

As you can see, wolves being returned to Yellowstone caused a chain of events in the ecosystem of Yellowstone that helped the National park's health and biodiversity grow. Beavers came back and helped improve Yellowstone as well.

Beavers are super important animals for an ecosystem. By building dams and lodges, beavers essentially create a habitat where many species thrive. Creating these wetlands helps many diverse plant and animal species prosper.

Wetlands are super important ecosystems but they are in danger. 35% of the world's wetlands have disappeared since 1970! Beavers have helped wetlands come back as well as improved the biodiversity of an area and the water quality of a river.

Beavers do so much for an ecosystem and in some cases, create one! This is why places like England and Scotland have reintroduced these herbivores back into the wild after they were hunted to extinction for their fur. Beavers are now native to Scotland helping other animals come back too.

Rewilding is important for habitats in danger. And planting more native plants or introducing animals can have surprisingly significant impacts on an ecosystem.