All animals lived here in abundance before Europeans showed up…..
THE WOLF IN NORTH AMERICA: DEFINING INTERNATIONAL ECOSYSTEMS VS.DEFINING INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES
KEVIN J. MADONNA[*]
Copyright © 1995 Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law
[W]ildlife as a whole and more especially migratory species of fauna, are the common heritage of humanity and . . . wherever they live they should throughout their lives be managed in the common interest and by the common consent of all peoples.[1]I. INTRODUCTION
Prior to European settlement, an estimated 2,000,000 wolves[2] lived on the North American continent.[3] Approximately 500 years later, the wolf population in the United States’ lower forty-eight states numbers between 500 and 1,600, with 1,500 to 1,750 located in Minnesota.[4] The wolf population in Alaska is between 5,000 and 15,000,[5] and the number of wolves in Canada ranges between 52,000 and 60,000.[6] There are numerous reasons why the North American wolf population was virtually eliminated. European folklore, the threat to the early settler’s livestock, and the competition the wolf gave to early hunters are some of the most frequently cited reasons.[7] The combination of these and other factors culminated in the virtual extermination of the wolf population in the United States’ lower forty-eight states; with them went an essential part of an ecosystem that had been established for millions of years.
The disappearance of species such as the wolf has led to international concern and cries for protection. Environmental protection and wildlife preservation is now a recognized and significant aspect of international law.[8] The principle that wildlife conservation is an international concern, as opposed to solely an intranational concern, gained international recognition at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972.[9]