http://www.nbcnews.com/science/cry-wolf-large-carnivore-decline-puts-humans-risk-study-says-2D11880999
A few years after wolves were reintroduced to the Northern Rockies in 1995, fifth-generation Montana rancher Rick Jarrett gave up on the parcel of federal land near Yellowstone National Park that he grazed for 20 years. The carnivores harassed his cattle so much that they stopped gaining weight. Skinny cattle don’t sell.
“It wasn’t worth being there anymore,” he told NBC News. To turn a profit, he now confines his livestock to several thousand acres on and around his ranch in Big Timber, where his cattle and sheep are free to pack on the pounds — for now. The wolves, he said, will eventually get there, too.
While Jarrett is bitter about having to live with wolves, such coexistence is increasingly necessary if the world hopes to reverse a downward spiral of its largest carnivores such as wolves as well as lions, tigers, and bears, according to a review study published Thursday in the journal Science.
As the carnivores decline, ecosystems and food chains that humans depend on for survival are unraveling and, in many cases, adding to the economic woes of everyone from farmers to ecotourism companies.
“We should be thinking of ourselves in the end because if enough important species go extinct and we lose enough ecosystem services and economic services, then humanity will suffer,” William Ripple, an ecologist at Oregon State University in Corvallis and the study’s lead author, told NBC News.
What to do? Ripple and 13 colleagues from around the world found that more than three quarters of Earth’s largest carnivores are in population declines. Most occupy only a fraction of their historic ranges and more than half are threatened with extinction.
Finding solutions is complicated, Ripple noted. The study, he said, is meant to illustrate the plight of carnivores and what humans stand to lose if the creatures go extinct — information that could steer policy via, for example, a global committee focused on carnivore conservation.
In the paper, the researchers argue that humans are ethically obligated to conserve large carnivores — the animals have an intrinsic right to exist on planet Earth. They then back the argument with examples of the way the role carnivores play in the ecosystem help humans.
In Africa, for example, loss of leopards and lions has translated to an increase in baboon populations, which in turn are raiding farmers’ livestock and crops for food. “In extreme cases, the farm family needs to keep their children home to guard the crops instead of go to school,” Ripple said.
Other benefits of carnivores noted in the study include control of deer, elk, and moose populations, which in turn keep forest plants healthy for other critters, limit erosion, and enhance water quality. Parks full of wolves and bears also attract tourists, whose dollars boost local economies.
Wolf-specific tourism in Yellowstone National Park, the paper notes, brings in $22 to $48 million per year.
What’s more, the scientists add, regions where carnivores keep other animal populations in check are full of plants that soak up carbon from the atmosphere, helping to slow global climate change. Jarrett, the Montana rancher, doubted such arguments would foster better feelings toward wolves.
“Granted carbon sequestration is important,” he said, “but the benefit we are going to get from wolves … is so insignificant it isn’t even funny.”
Legitimate fears The reality, noted Packer, who is an expert on human-carnivore interactions and deeply involved in African lion conservation, is that humans naturally fear these animals, often for good reason.
“You cannot expect somebody living in rural Africa or rural Asia to risk being eaten by a lion or a tiger so that your moral sense is gratified back in California or Texas or New York,” he said. “Conservationists need to recognize that there are legitimate reasons why people want to get rid of these animals.”
To reduce human predation on lions, Packer advocates the controversial use of patrolled and maintained fences that serve as a physical barrier between people and wildlife.
Ultimately, he said, the conflict among humans about our relationship with carnivores comes down to emotion versus intellect. While arguments such as carnivores’ ability to buffer ecosystems against climate change are “interesting,” in the end, he said, emotion usually wins.
“You have to find ways that people feel safe and that people benefit economically.”
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News.
Exposing the Big Game 
“Finding solutions is complicated,” Ripple noted.
No they’re not. Quite simple, actually.
Go vegan. Control the growth and the outward expansion of humans.
here! here!
Why is it we don’t give voice to our carnivores that most likely say. … “These folks encroaching on our native lands, they are “annoying ” who gave them the right to this?
The guns and politicians.
I’m speaking with my pocket book against these grubby grabbers !
I eat no beef or mammals at all because of these practices … Humans just think its their right to take something they see and desire .. I call that stealing! The ranchers have over stepped the boundaries on the wild ones territory. Get out and stay out ! Know your limits.
Respect and coexistence lead to a great outcome ! Buy only ” predator friendly ” products make it a habit.
It informs the larger populace
Thank you for all that useful information! It is true. Its just a matter of using common sense. We are all part of the circle of life! & we all serve a purpose & a born right to live on this planet. It is not the rules of the land but rules of man why we are now suffering. At one time in life humans hunted for a purpose/reason, to clothe, eat etc…now a days, we drive to the markets, shops, groceries store & purchase items, such as clothing, food, luxury items etc…& men hunt for the thirst of blood on animals, & kill without any thought to our predators life & why it came to be there in the first place, eating their live stock! That is our fault (human society) & what we think we need to live comfortably in this world. I think putting fencing’s around property is a great way to separate wildlife from the human race, but I also think its unfair too because before settlers settled wildlife predators could roam where their food source roamed until man decided he wanted that source of food for ourselves and/or they wanted to expand cities. What was left, of what once was abundant living for all creatures great & small, is now restricted to small portions of land for them to scavenge what food source there is left. Meanwhile games/trophy hunters now plaque the earth, it is earths newest cancer! You tell us what we should be doing other then what we are all trying to accomplish signing petitions, hoping to save the lives of great predators?! With the government behind such brutal tatics which has given a lot of bullshit rights to agency’s & game/trophy hunters, we are all finding ourselves on site’s such as this one voicing our opinions on game/trophy hunts, and receiving useful information to be used for arguments against hunters, without the real support of the government, this fight seems like a losing battle. But we keep fighting to let them know we are still around & growing bigger & getting more knowledge as knowledge is our power & together we can stop human predators from killing off our endangered species so our next generations can enjoy our historic wildlife. If 50 million people can shut down a slaughter house that tortured & killed dogs & cats for human consumption along with 33 shops in China, South Korea, by using media; then we can do the same thing with America’s wolves, bears & other game animals but we all pull together by having knowledge & the right information. The world needs to know what is happening, so America how about you use the media & show what these hunters are doing to America’s wildlife & put a stop to the onslaught of our wildlife great & small.
Start it and do it !!! Every drop helps !
Don’t wait for anyone else
I’ve gone to DC
I Have a petition… ” please stop killing us” @ change.org
Write 1000’s of letters/ emails
Give dollars to orgs that are pro wolf
Speak to friends and foes
We elected a man who has no environmental scruples and he has the power and it is killing our wild ones .. We were betrayed know that .. Understand that ! Don’t be fooled again by him !
Continue to speak out !
Get radical don’t quit talking about it!
Demonstrate !!!
Tell school children !
Have wolf ambassadors visit schools !
Never shut up about this tragedy!
Write in comment section of media posts!
Thank nytimes for running their article on the killing of wolves in Idaho
Give voice to those who can’t!!!
Stay active never give up !
Our power is great still ; we can’t take no for an answer !
Because it is not an answer !
Say yes to Wolves and their brethren by your actions!