Why Should We Save Wolves?

For most of human history, we haven’t needed to concern ourselves about sustaining the web of life. But today, for the first time since the extinction of the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago, we’re losing species faster than nature can create new ones. And that’s because of our relentless population
growth and development of modern technologies ever more capable of altering the natural world.

Given current trends, it is estimated that by the time a child born today reaches his or her 30th birthday, one of every five current species on Earth will be either doomed or already extinct. After that, if present trends continue, the prospect will worsen.

Because the wolf has endured such a long history of persecution, the campaign to reverse the government’s policies toward wolves makes that cause into a symbol of the larger struggle to upgrade our society’s overall wildlife conservation values. If our society can alter its attitudes and policies toward the wolf, then widespread adoption of a more beneficial conservation ethic shouldn’t be far behind.

We should save wolves because it’s good for the wolf, it helps establish a conservation ethic that can save other imperiled species–and it’s good for the environment our children will inherit.

Text reposted from Defenders of Wildlife - www.defenders.org

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