Why is it important to keep the gray wolf on the Endangered Species List?
Based on the long and continuing legacy of wolf persecution and hatred by some segments of the population, a premature delisting would be devastating to the recovery of the gray wolf in the lower 48 states. The borders of these DPSs would effectively act as corrals, preventing the wolf populations within their boundaries from expanding and recovering further into their former range—or potentially expanding to eventually form one, contiguous population.
Based on the long and continuing legacy of wolf persecution and hatred by some segments of the population, a premature delisting would be devastating to the recovery of the gray wolf in the lower 48 states. The borders of these DPSs would effectively act as corrals, preventing the wolf populations within their boundaries from expanding and recovering further into their former range—or potentially expanding to eventually form one, contiguous population. Returning this key carnivore to the wide variety of habitats it once occupied would help restore balance to those ecosystems. Numerous scientific studies have confirmed the importance of so-called “apex predators” to ecosystem health, function and stability. The effects of these carnivores is not only observed through the regulation of prey populations but also in the restoration of plant communities and the reestablishment of species that are directly dependent upon the habitat conditions facilitated by the predatory actions of the wolf
