The Return of the Wolf (Camp and Cottage Wildlife Collection) [Paperback]

Steve Grooms (Author)

Book Description

Series: Camp and Cottage Wildlife Collection | Publication Date: July 1993

This best-selling, award-winning classic about the most misunderstood animal on earth is completely updated, redesigned, and features stunning new color photos. Authoritative (used as a college text), it reads like a novel - a perfect introduction to wolves and wolf management. Features a new section on Canada's wolves and comprehensive updates on five raging wolf controversies, including plans to remove protection for some wolves. Sold 50K copies in 2 editions 5 stars on Amazon.com. Used as a textbook Won Skipping Stones Award for nature education in 2000. Steve Grooms (St. Paul, Minnesota) combines lyrical writing with acute insights about wolves and the complex world of wolf politics. The author of 13 books, he writes for sporting and conservation magazines and serves on the editorial board of International Wolf Magazine. 65 full color photos, 9 black and white maps.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This third edition of a minor wolf classic provides as comprehensive a picture of the North American wolf population and its management as one could possibly ask for in 160 photo-filled pages. And if Grooms overstates his subject's importance (he postulates that, in the world's first argument, Adam and Eve disagreed about wolves), he is an expert and impassioned chronicler of wolves. He covers the controversial reintroduction of the wolf to Yellowstone National Park, relates the often negative perception of wolves throughout history (in the 15th-century, wolves were associated with promiscuity and other church-decried appetites; early American settlers saw them "as impediments to Manifest Destiny"), describes wolf anatomy and biology, and explains wolf management strategies in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Clearly written and informative enough to be a textbook, this is an excellent resource-as well as a reminder that "the ecological decency of a society can be measured by how it treats the most troublesome and notorious animal species." For Grooms-and for generations of settlers, ranchers and campers-that notorious animal is the North American wolf.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Steve Grooms has been studying and writing about wolves since 1977. From 1976 through 1981 he was managing editor of Fins and Feathers Magazine. He is the author of 13 books on pheasant hunting, outdoor philosophy and humor, natural history, fishing and fishing boats, trophy deer, health, cooking - even a memoir. Earlier editions of Return of the Wolf won endorsement from the National Wildlife Federation; it appeals to the general public but has also been used as a textbook. Steve is a member of the International Wolf Center and serves on the Center's magazine committee. He lives in St. Paul, MN and has spotted five wolves on his way to his cabin in Cornucopia, WI.Main photographer Michael H. Francis, trained as a wildlife biologist, is a wildlife photographer based in Montana. His photography has been internationally recognized for its beautiful and informative imagery. Michael's work has been published by the National Geographic Society, The Audubon Society, The National Wildlife Federation, as well as by Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and Sports Afield magazines, among others.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Northword Pr; 1st Edition. edition (July 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559711515
• ISBN-13: 978-1559711517
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,306,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first comprehensive book on wolf restoration, March 26, 2000

By 

Ralph Maughan (Pocatello, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return of the Wolf (Northword Wildlife Series) (Paperback)

Over the last 20 years there has been growing sentiment favoring the restoration of the wolf to many places in the United States where the often feared carnivore was extirpated. Sentiment has been turned onto active restoration, and Steve Grooms is the first to write a book for the general public on the subject. There have been books about the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction and the Mexican wolf reintroduction. However, Grooms looks at them all -- the two just mentioned, but also the restoration of the red wolf and the successful conservation of the gray wolf in the upper Great Lakes.

The book has a number of fine photos of wolves. It is factual and moderate in tone.

Those is a very useful, readable overview for those interested in the comeback of the wolf

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally: A fair and balanced account of wolves in America!, March 8, 2004

By 

Monika "equestrienne_23" (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return of the Wolf (Northword Wildlife Series) (Paperback)

The wolf has long both entranced and terrified humans. It wasn't long ago that most of America harbored an intense wolf-hatred, and it was routine to kill as many of them as possible, as quickly as possible. Ranchers saw the wolf as the ultimate danger to their livestock, and offered bounties to wolf-hunters. Such policies quickly led to the depletion or eradication of entire wolf populations in many parts of the continent. Folk tales like "Peter and the Wolf" and "Little Red Riding Hood" are evidence of an even more long-standing fear and hatred of the wolf. Wolves are a predator at the top of the food pyramid, just like humans, so they can seem quite threatening, as our "niches" tend to overlap.

More recently, public opinion has seen a dramatic swing in the opposite direction. With the advent of environmentalist groups, the wolf is now seen by many as a symbol of the wild. It is often idolized and viewed as the epitome of nobility. Yet the author of this book asserts that neither this idealized depiction of the wolf, nor the previous view of wolves as bloodthirsty, ruthless killers that should be eradicated at all costs, are accurate perceptions. He states: "People used to view wolves imperfectly through filters of greed and fear; they now view them imperfectly through filters of guilt and romance" (pg. 31). For instance, wolf advocates have often said that wolves will never attack humans, but this is not entirely accurate. While such incidents are rare, "never" is not the correct word to use here.

Steve Grooms works to dispell the myths that have evolved around the wolf. He begins by describing its history, the stereotypes attached to the wolf, and the long-standing tradition of persecution. It's not a pretty picture. The book offers several very graphic examples of human brutality toward wolves (some are quite disturbing). Grooms goes on to describe the wolf itself and how it lives. He explains the pack system, a wolf's physical traits, what a wolf eats, where they live, etc. The main portion of the book is devoted to the various issues and controversies surrounding wolves today. Unlike other publications, he does not focus on any one particular breed of wolf, or any one particular issue concerning them. Rather, he goes through and describes each of the breeds on the continent - the Red Wolf, the Gray Wolf of the Great Lakes region, the wolves of the Rocky Mountains, the Mexican Wolf, and finally the large Gray Wolf of Alaska. Grooms explains the controversies surrounding wolves in each area, and the various reintroduction programs (some successful and others not) that have made attempts to reestablish the wolf where its numbers have been severely depleted or entirely wiped out. The most notable of these programs are the restoration of the Red Wolf in the southeast, the Mexican Wolf in the southwest, and Gray Wolves in the Great Lakes Region and in Yellowstone.

I found Grooms' presentation to be very fair and balanced. He acknowledges the concerns of all human parties, be they ranchers, hunters, or environmentalists. He does not ignore arguments on either side, and validates many on both sides, making corrections when necessary: "Because some wolf groups have deified and romanticized the wolf, today it is sometimes as necessary to correct the myths of wolf advocates as the distortions of wolf haters" (pg. 183). He obviously admires and respects wolves, but he takes a realistic look at the consequences of sustaining wolf populations in close proximity to humans. When he speaks of environmentalists, he makes two subdivisions - idealists and pragmatists. Idealists tend to see all management (the term being used to mean killing troublesome wolves) of wolf populations as bad. Pragmatists concede there are circumstances where such management may be necessary. He even shows how these two pro-wolf groups have conflicted and sometimes hurt their own cause.

As a former Alaska resident, I found Grooms' treatment on wolves in the state to be particularly pleasing. I can say with certainty that he accurately captured the essence of the issue here. Alaska is the only place in the United States where the wolf has not been considered endangered. An estimated 7,000-10,000 wild Gray Wolves make the state their home. Such large numbers have led to a concern opposite that found for wolves in the Lower 48. How can the wolf population in Alaska be effectively kept within an environmentally sustainable limit? Many more radical wolf supporters have expressed outrage at any sort of management program, and even to hunting game animals such as moose. They accuse Alaskans of having "sold out" to the income generated by leading tourists on guided hunting trips. Having lived there, I know for a fact that most Alaskans have a deep respect for the wolf and most other animals. I was very glad to see that Grooms has accurately represented this outlook: "Alaskans typically have a strong attachment to the natural world, but are less sentimental and more utilitarian in their wildlife values than citizens of the Lower 48. . . . [Alaskans] tend to see hunting as a natural, time-honored way of putting meat on the table" (pg. 164). Having grown up on wild moose-meat and fish, I can testify that this is true of most Alaskan hunters.

At the end, Grooms provides a nice summary, including an overview of well-reputed wolf advocacy groups. He gives a short description of each, as well as providing website addresses for further reference. This is particularly nice since the book, published in 1999, does not have the latest information on the various wolf programs and related disputes that are still ongoing. Furthermore, the book contains an abundance of beautiful photography. There are full-color pictures on almost every page, some of them full-page images. And finally, Grooms' writing style is simple and fluid, making the book accessible to the layman. The book holds a wealth of good information, and I recommend it most highly.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Wolf Book but Rather Biased, March 20, 2007

By 

B. Hennigar "wolf lover" (dunno) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Return of the Wolf, Third Edition: Successes and Threats in the US and Canada (Paperback)

I found the book intresting and informative, a good wolf book for general wildlife lovers. But I also found that some of the pages, like regarding hunting and conservation, leaked some proaganda and it made the book seem rather off. Instead of going into depth about the alaskan wolf control program, or the issue of wolf conservation in canada, the author seems to lightly touch on the subjects and take off agian. I was also slightly dispointed to read that Canada is only mentioned just a tiny bit in the whole book. The title clearly says US and Canada but focuses on american science that many biologists have already gone over numerous times. serious wolf people would add it to their collection but it doesn`t cover anything new.