Twenty-years ago, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park under the Endangered Species Act successfully restoring a top predator absent for over 70 years. This is an iconic conservation success story given the challenges of coexisting with carnivores and decades long era of misunderstanding and persecution. Joined by similar successes in grizzly bear and cougar population recovery, Yellowstone is as rich in large carnivore diversity and abundance as in any other time in modern history. Through the integration of life history, behavioral, and genetic studies on wolves with other research on Yellowstone’s ecology, our understanding of carnivores and the role they play in ecosystem structure and function is advancing. This seminar covers topics including new insights into the adaptive value of sociality, eco-evolutionary processes, predator-prey and multi-carnivore dynamics, as well as ecosystem and societal impacts of carnivore recovery. By integrating old-school field biology with new cutting edge digital camera, genetic technics, and GPS collars, a greater understanding of wolves and cougars are emerging. With both decreases and increases in large carnivore populations worldwide, humans face an increasing challenge to conserve and coexist with these charismatic, but controversial species. Long-term, detailed studies from Yellowstone offer an unprecedented opportunity for science and conservation in this new era of large carnivore recovery.
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