Sentient Science reports on an unexpected flaw that might interfere with human attempts to reintroduce wolves into the wilds of Colorado. The problem isn’t the biology or ecology of wolves or wolf habitats. It’s that success in survival (and breeding) depends on the wolves’ personalities:
[Marc] Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Boulder, tells Sentient he’s frustrated with the way the Colorado reintroduction was carried out. He believes the wolves should have been carefully selected based on their personalities, and he’s concerned the program will be unsuccessful, which he feels would be a loss for the ecosystem.
…The reason that CPW wanted to select wolves that hadn’t attacked livestock, says Reading, is because “it’s no question” that opposition to the reintroduction is primarily coming from ranchers. Historically that’s been true too: gray wolves were native to Colorado until they were eradicated in the 1940s, because they kept killing livestock and game.
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Yet selecting wolves that might be more reluctant to attack livestock isn’t necessarily a good strategy for conservation outcomes, says Liv Baker, a conservation behaviorist at ethics think tank PAN Works. “Maybe there might be fewer predations on farmed animals, but what does that mean for their ability to hunt overall and their ultimate survival?,” says Baker, whose PhD focused on animal personalities in a reintroduction context. “You want diversity of personality because that leads to resilience of the group.”
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A growing body of research shows animal personality can have an impact on the success or failure of a reintroduction. Shier foxes were found to be more likely to survive a reintroduction program than their bolder counterparts, for example; in contrast, bolder mink had a higher chance of success in a similar program than their shier siblings.
It’s not quite that simple, however, at least according to Baker. It’s the mix that matters. In other words, as diversity of personality leads to the resilience of the group, having only shy foxes or bold mink could be detrimental to long term survival.
How an animal acts might be influenced by the stress of a relocation or other environmental factors — but do such changes mean a permanent shift in the animal’s personality? “I think that there’s stability to the underlying foundation of personality, but the expression of oneself can change as a result of environmental events and trauma,” Baker says.