The wolf had disappeared from Yellowstone Park. It was exterminated by humans and years later reintroduced to the park by humans.
A video that has been shared on Facebook for some time tells of how 14 wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park. According to the video, they performed a miracle and brought the ecosystem in the national park back to normal.
Could this wolf population actually restore natural balance? It's about this video:

Is anything known about this? Sounds so nice that alarm bells ring immediately
“They released 14 wolves into a national park. Then a miracle happened that proves we must take care of our incredible planet.”
The fact check
We already know the video from June 2019:
Romantic representation or reality?
The content shown in the video is largely correct - but it is a very simplified version of what has really been happening since the wolves were reintroduced to the national park.
The fact is that Yellowstone National Park's ecosystem became unbalanced when humans exterminated the last wolf pack in 1926.
In the following 70 years, moose and wapiti red deer multiplied explosively. Trees such as willows and aspens were eaten down too quickly and could no longer thrive, and beavers also disappeared from the huge national park, except for a single colony, because they could no longer find enough food.
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Without the beavers, the dams collapsed and the water seeped far into the country - Yellowstone Park lost a large amount of biodiversity, as insect and bird species also migrated. The disappearance of the wolves had an impact down to the smallest beetle.
In 1975, the long discussion began as to whether it would make sense to reintroduce the wolf to Yellowstone Park. In 1995/1996, 31 wolves were brought to Yellowstone from Canada and since then researchers have been working on the extent to which nature in Yellowstone Park is recovering.
Studies suggest (2019 update) that wolves likely lead to greater biodiversity throughout the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. And indeed: the beavers are returning in many parts of the park* and the willow and aspen populations are also recovering. Unfortunately, this success is still pending for many other parts.
Arthur Middelton , postdoc at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, wrote in 2014 about exactly this simplified version, which has become extremely popular in the USA over the years: “We reintroduced the wolf and it eats the deer and A few years later, paradise blossomed and all is well.”
He points out that the wolf represents a very important piece of the puzzle - but not the whole picture.
Tom Hobbs , professor of ecology at Colorado State University, also calls for a more complex view of wolf reintroduction in 2016:
It is extremely sensible to reintroduce the predator, but that is not enough to completely renew an ecosystem:
“There is no quick fix after wiping out a predator that was at the top of the food chain.”
Environmental conditions have changed massively in the last 100 years - according to Hobbs, we should take that into account.
*Update June 12, 2019
In addition to the part “The Biebers return”:
In his publication Is science in danger of sanctifying the wolf? US behavioral scientist Lucyan David Mech discusses a little-known fact that Daniel B. Tyers - US Forest Service, Gallatin National Forest - released an additional 129 beavers
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This takes us back to Arthur Middelton, who warned in 2014 that all the pieces of the puzzle should be taken into account and that the mere reintroduction of the wolf should not be viewed as a kind of Deus Ex Machina.
We would like to thank our attentive reader Markus C. for this tip!
Conclusion:
To put it simply, the information in the video is correct. The wolf helps - but is not the sole savior of an entire ecosystem that is changing.
Regarding the information provided by the author himself: It was a population of over 30 wolves - not 14 - and discussions about reintroduction go back to the 1970s. With luck, no one released wolves there… as the wording might suggest.
Sources:
My Yellowstone – Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem in Yellowstone
Untamed Science – Did Yellowstone wolves really save the park's ecosystem?
The New York Times – Is the Wolf a Real American Hero?
Spiegel Online – Wolves give bears more berries
Status and Ecological Effects of the World's Largest Carnivores
Water Tables Constrain Height Recovery of Willow on Yellowstone's Northern Range
You might also be interested in: Fact check: The killed wolf
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

