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Reintroduction of Grey wolf in the USA
Myslivcová, Markéta ; Fiala Šebková, Naděžda (advisor) ; Chmelíková, Eva (referee)
This bachelors study Reintroduction of Grey wolf in the USA summarizes known facts about species Grey wolf (Canis lupus) in its first part. It describes problems in taxonomic system, lists wolf subspecies, describes its natural home range and habitat, morphology, social behavior and pack structure, ethology, reproduction and process of raising wolf pups, hunting techniques, eating habits, and wolf and human relationships.
Wolves as top predators play a key role in natural ecosystem and a big part of this work focuses on benefits of wolf presence in natural habitat. These benefits are for example higher biodiversity and natural balance. The second part of the paper focuses on wolves in the USA. It describes in detail a history of wolf presence in the lower 48 states, the causes of wolf eradication caused by humans, and following controversial reintroduction. It describes the recovery of Eastern timber wolf, Mexican wolf, and the recovery of Grey wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains in detail. Creation of the endangered species act in 1973 triggered the wolf reintroduction in the USA. The purpose of the Endangered species act, as described by the congress, is to reestablish a population of a species listed as endangered and to protect its natural habitat. The Grey wolf was listed ad endangered in 1974, and plans of reintroduction started to form immediately. This work describes the process of reintroduction, its impact on the environment, and also problems it brings to the society. These problems are for example depredation of livestock, danger to pets and possible decline of game species as elk and deer . It also describes current population size and population management
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