Originally posted by normhead You still haven't answered, how did they live together for 15,000 years before there was civilization? I know the answer could be, building roads helps wolves hunt, increasing their range by about double, but, nature left to itself balances itself out. It shouldn't take human intervention. Just a bit of patience. If there's one thing the Algoqnuin studies have shown it's hunting wolves doesn't change the size of the packs. The food supply is what increases and decreases the wolf population. Perhaps because wolves were eradicated there, Minnesota just needs a bit of time to get back into balance.
Well you made an incorrect statement earlier that predators only kill the weak and old. Because that is what someone wrote in a textbook years ago and it is still thrown out as fact. The whitetail I posted was perfectly healthy. The wolf pack there kills a whitetail every 4 days like clockwork, the snow causes them to sink and they can't run. The wolf pack can stay on top of the snowpack and chase them down without problem. Snow gets deep enough the same happens to mature moose they can't defend themselves and kick when they are buried in snow.
I posted earlier about the same issue happening in Jasper National Park in Alberta. It is 4,000 square miles and they are down to 19 known moose. The biologist that they sent to spent a year with the moose calves observed 2 calves because that is where the problem is, they are not surviving. Out of the 2 calves he spent a year observing one lived, the other was killed by wolves. Statistically they don't have a lot of data points do they with only 19 Moose left? But it is a common problem that many of us have observed that actually spent time in the woods with them. May not be a problem North of 60 yet, but it is headed your way sooner than later. Just saying....