AZ Daily Sun (original) Posted: Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:00 am
To the editor:
The article about the buffalo on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (Jan. 17) covered the difficult position the National Park has dealing with an invasive species into the park's ecosystem. What was not mentioned are the ongoing efforts to reintroduce a natural predator into the ecosystem.
The Mexican gray wolf was wiped out in the recent past in this area. This keystone species would help to mitigate the ongoing problem of the buffalo by culling sick animals, moving herds away from the springs due to the natural pack hunt and allow the buffalo to behave in a more normal browsing pattern and would protect the springs and park from overgrazing. The reintroduction of the Mexican gray into the North Rim area of the Colorado Plateau would recreate the ecosystem that was in place for thousands of years before the advent of humans and their introduction of the buffalo.
More information on the Mexican gray can be found at www.gcwolfrecovery.org.
KAY BORDWELL
Flagstaff
