SAVE THE WOLVES ! - POSTCARD

SAVE THE WOLVES ! - POSTCARD Originally, the Grey Wolf was the world's most widely distributed mammal. It has become extinct in much of Western Europe, in Mexico and much of the USA, and their present distribution is more restricted; wolves occur primarily but not exclusively in wilderness and remote areas. Their original worldwide range has been reduced by about one-third by deliberate persecution due to depredation on livestock and fear of attacks on humans. Since about 1970, legal protection, land-use changes and rural human population shifts to cities have arrested wolf population declines and fostered natural recolonization in parts of its range and reintroduction in three areas of USA. Continued threats include competition with humans for livestock and game species, exaggerated concern by the public regarding the threat and danger of wolves, and fragmentation of habitat, with resulting areas becoming too small for populations with long-term viability. Although the Grey Wolf still faces some threats, its relatively widespread range and stable population trend mean that the species, at global level, does not meet, or nearly meet, any of the criteria for the threatened categories. Therefore, it is assessed as Least Concern (LC). However, at regional level, several wolf populations are seriously threatened. In North America, some of the reintroduced populations are still threatened; and in Europe, http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/3746/1, http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/3746/3, the species is classified as LC globally but several regional populations, such as the Western-Central Alps population, are classified as Endangered (http://www.lcie.org/). Common Name(s): English – Gray Wolf, Arctic Wolf, Common Wolf, Grey Wolf, Mexican Wolf, Plains Wolf, Timber Wolf, Tundra Wolf, Wolf French – Loup, Loup Gris, Loup Vulgaire Spanish – Lobo