For anyone who is already familiar with Yellowstone, one of the first things that comes to mind is the magnificent wildlife you'll find there. Here you can find the big 5 of North America: bison, wolves, grizzly bears, moose, elk, and black bears. Yellowstone bison and wolves are particularly interesting animals whose existence is both a conservation successful story and a political controversy.
For the bison, Yellowstone can make the claim that this is the only place in North America where plains bison have roamed continuously since prehistoric times. That's quite the claim! Estimates are that bison once numbered between 30 and 60 million before European colonization and exploration. As the newcomers advanced westward into the interior of the wild west, many were amazed to find a wilderness full of wild beasts. On Lewis and Clark's famous voyage, they made mention of seeing an endless sea of bison across the open plains. Those days are long gone, as American settlers sought out to build a new nation from coast to coast. Bison were eradicated to make way for railroads, cities, towns, and farmlands. Destroying bison was also a strategy pushed by the U.S. army to suppress the plains Indians who also 'stood in the way', according to their "Manifest Destiny" ideology that the wild lands and "wild savages" must be tamed for the U.S. to achieve its ultimate nationhood goals. Hence, the bison, or buffalo, were destroyed almost to the point of extinction and only 24 bison remained inside the newly established Yellowstone National Park. President Teddy Roosevelt called for the protection of the remaining bison and these early conservation efforts led to the successful recovery of Yellowstone bison.
The story doesn't end there, however. As Yellowstone bison recovered from the great slaughter of the westward expansion, they eventually became too numerous for the nearby ranchers' comfort. Yellowstone bison carry a disease know as Brucellosis, which they originally got from European cattle in the first place. Ranchers fear their livestock will get infected by the bison who wander out of Yellowstone, which is why in 2000 the Interagency Bison Management Plan was established to limit the number of wild bison living in Yellowstone to 3000 individuals. Every year, park officials send hundreds of bison off to slaughter and haze the wandering bison back into park boundaries. Wildlife advocates strongly oppose these actions and call for increased tolerance for bison who wander out of park boundaries.
Wolves are an even more polarizing species. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the government sponsored predator eradication programs which sought to eliminate wolves and grizzly bears from the American west in order to livestock operations. By 1926, the last wolf in Yellowstone had been killed. Wildlife advocates called for the reintroduction of wolves in the 1980s and early 1990s, and after much debate and fierce opposition by local ranchers, wolves were reintroduced in 1995. Since then, wolves numbers have grown to over 500 in the GYE. Wolf watching is now a major economic driver for the GYE's economy. Personally, I haven't seen one yet, but I really hope I spot one this summer!
If you are an animal lover and love to get close to nature, you've gotta visit Yellowstone and experience a real-life American safari. The best places to see bison and wolves are in Hayden and Lamar valleys, though you are virtually guaranteed to see bison almost anywhere in Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park is truly and impactful exploration that you will never forget!
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