Wolves. You probably love them. Or hate them.

But regardless of what we think about wolves, how much do we actually know about this – and here’s that term again – keystone species?

The answer is both quite a lot and very little.

For starters, we should have better insight into wolves than most wild animals because, so often, we live alongside their relatives.

How’s that?

Domestic puppers: Cooper, Timber and Peabody

The family dog, of course.

Just as chimps are our closest living relatives, the wolf is our domestic dogs’ closest living relative.

Wolves and the world’s most popular pet share 99.9% of the same DNA, originated from the same ancestor and are both part of the canid family.

Characteristics we love about dogs – loyalty, protection and even the ease with which we understand their emotions – are all traits that can be found in wolves. And though wild wolves aren’t loyal or protective of humans, it’s a trait humans worked hard to harness, starting about 15,000 years ago, when we were still hunter-gathers, looking for a few more allies around the campsite.

What is believed to have started with a now-extinct species of wolf eventually evolved into the very domesticated and people-loving Buddy you find begging below your table for a portion of your snack as you read this.

In fact, it was the offer of free food that helped domesticate the first dog and it is the allure of free – or easy – food that so often puts our wild wolves into conflict with us.

Dogs – heck, all animals, including us – are driven by food. It’s the key to life, to survival. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that a wolf – again, like people – will do what it can to feed itself and its family.

We both seem to like the taste of deer and moose, so we compete for the same prey. And if that competition means those populations decline too fast, then wolves naturally turn to the next available food source that, at times, is livestock. That’s not only a human food source, it’s money for people who need it to put food on the table.

So, yeah, we’re often in competition and we’re not a species accustom to coming out on the losing end of any battle.

But there might be another reason some of us don’t like wolves.

Bears, cats, ungulates: they’re nothing like us and we struggle to understand them. But wolves? Their need for companionship and loyalty and protection is something we can see in ourselves.

And that’s why, some have suggested, a wolf’s less glamorous characteristics – say, killing coyote pups one-by-one to send a message to the on-looking parents that they should leave and never return to compete with the wolf pack for food – might also remind us, in a less comfortable way, of ourselves. Like, when we hold competitions to see how many wolves we can kill in one day to show them who’s territory they’re on, or when one of us kills an entire wolf pack because they’re too close to home.

In other words, at times, both wolves and people kill what they don’t like, and we don’t like that, so we kill what we don’t like. Make sense?

Yet for every uncomfortable shared quality we share, there are also a few nicer similarities between wolf and human.

Wolves mate for life (even lone wolves are simply searching for love). They have leaders. They play and teach and communicate. They even pass knowledge down through the generations and understand complexities like weather, terrain and food scarcity (some call it surplus killing, others call it good planning).

Wolves also care for the injured. They protect each other if threatened. They are committed to family and work together to raise a family (you know, it takes a village to raise a child and all that).

In fact, packs have such a complex social structure that only a few other species can relate – ravens, elephants, dolphins, great apes and humans.

And it’s for all those reasons that people love wolves.

The reality of the wolf, however, is neither as bad as Little Red Riding Hood suggests (you’re more likely to be killed by a deer or a lawnmower or a salad), nor as saintly as some of its champions will tell you (see: coyote pup killing story above).

What is

the reality?

Wolves, like every other species, are just trying to make a living in a harsh world.

Yes, they’re intelligent and social. Yes, they can be vicious and compete with other species to make their living.

But – and say it with me now – they’re also a keystone species.

That means, sure, wolves are just another member of the food chain, but as a large predator, they also influence every other species, up and down the food chain as well.

Wolves regulate prey populations, like moose and beaver, ensuring neither species overgrazes or over-harvests.

Though scientists debate the extent of the wolf’s role in what’s called the trophic cascade or ripple effect that determines the design and functionality of the river ecosystems, we now know wolves determine forest structure (species habitat), contribute to soil composition (carbon storage), and alter wetland design (water filtration) through their prey selections.

In other words, when an ecosystem is healthy – and includes wolves – there is a natural balance that helps sustain biodiversity that ultimately helps all life, including us, live.

Which is why, in many places, after decades of eradicating wolves from their traditional range, we’re restoring wolf populations to help us bring back that balance and achieve our costly engineering work for free.

But because we’re in more places than we’ve ever been – whether we’re talking existing wolf habitat or habitat we want to reintroduce wolves into – we’re still finding ourselves in conflict with each other even if we’re both just trying to make our living – fill our niche – in the ecosystem.

So, yes, wolves matter and, yes, wolves are divisive. We should understand them better, but if we don’t even understand how to bridge our views on wolves, you can probably understand why we haven’t figured out how to live with them either.

Maybe we should try harder.

What do you think?

How much did you know about wolves before this story? How did you know so much, or why did you know so little?
What was the most surprising thing you learned watching/reading this story? Why did you find it surprising? How would you share what you’ve learn from this story with your friends and family?
Do you think wolves matter? Why or why not?
How have your opinions on wolves been influenced by media and pop culture?
Do you think your perspectives on wolves have been shaped because of the media you’ve consumed in the past? How could you learn more about wolves - and different perspectives - about wolvess going forward without it becoming a chore?
How do wolves impact your world? If wolves disappeared from a region, how might it affect your life? Would it?
Do you know if wolves live in your area? If they do, are they doing well? Are any threatened? If not, where is the closest area they are?
What local decisions impact wolves? Are there any citizen science projects to help others learn about wolves in your area? Are there community research programs? Any stories about wolves? How might different careers influence the future of wolves?
Do you think our society is making well informed decisions when it comes to wolves? Why do you think that? What would you do better?
How might you be a better steward of wolves through your passions and hobbies?
What do we not know when it comes to wolves in Mount Robson, or your community? Do we know enough, or do we need to know more about their role in the ecosystem and their value to biodiversity to make important decisions for people and nature? If so, what?
Do you have any ideas on how we can co-exist with wolves?
What is a keystone species? What keystone species exist in your community? What would happen if that keystone species went extinct in your area?
Find someone who thinks differently about wolves than you and have a respectful discussion about each others views. Make sure you listen and don’t interrupt. Be kind and open.

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