Wolf Hunt

The topic I chose for my research paper is whether or not grey wolf hunting should be legal in areas surrounding Yellowstone National Park.  Grey wolves were removed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service’s endangered species list in most Rocky Mountain states in 2011, and since the hunting of these animals has become legalized, at least 87 wolves were shot in Montana, 120 were shot or trapped in Idaho and 58 were shot in Wyoming.  This topic interests me because I have always had an interest in wildlife; especially wolves and other previously endangered species.  Some questions that will be guiding my research include: since the legalization of wolf hunting, how has the wolf population changed?  What other factors have been affected by the hunting of wolves?  Are there any benefits to hunting the wolves?  How has the wolf population changed over the past century?  How has the state government been regulating the hunting of wolves?  What are the opinions of experts in Yellowstone?  I am sure I will be adding many questions to my paper to help provide adequate research.  My preliminary thesis will be “The newly legalized wolf hunt has caused a change in the wolf population that has left many experts concerned for the ecosystem within the Yellowstone area, as well as the survival of the species itself.”  Some reliable sources I could definitely see myself using are certain online articles and magazines from National Geographic, official material published by experts at Yellowstone, and facts gathered from other scholarly sources in the library.  As far as rhetorical sources, I could see myself using images from the wolf hunt, images gathered from Yellowstone of the wolves, or even the documentaries aired on television following the re-introduction of grey wolves to Yellowstone.  My essay will have readers wondering how the hunting of wolves could affect our wild life in North America in years to come, as well as how these changes could leave the world without the grey wolf species at all.  The audience should listen to the paper because the decisions made about the wolf hunt now could affect the entire ecosystem in Yellowstone National Park.  It is our duty as the future of our country to act to sustain what little natural beauty there is left in our land.