Customer Reviews

Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild

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When the introduction of Wolves into Yellowstone National Park first occured in 1995/96 many books appeared celebrating and philosophizing the environmental and social effects of that success. Now, eight years later comes this wonderful book that not only looks at the success of the Yellowstone experiment, but also at those pioneering Wolves, the actual animals who braved that unknown scientific test to see if, after 80 years, the Wolf could again be a part of the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Author James C Halfpenny has beautifully, with just the right amount of anthropomorphism, detailed the lives and experiences of the introduced wolves known to us only by numbers. But like all animal/human interactions even a number can create an emotional attachment, as was the case with the fate of Rose Creek number 10M, the 'Big Guy', whose ultimate sacrifice became the strenghth and symbol of the desire for the Yellowstone experiment to be a success despite the echoes of human hatred still being felt throughout the wilderness.

Ultimately, with all popular wolf books, it is the photographs that are the real joy to most readers, and again this publication delivers. Beautiful and fascinating pictures are presented throughout, and with the well advertised phrase 'no captive wolves" ,a unique claim also, it should be noted, found in David L Mech's Arctic Wolf: Living with the pack (1988) and Jim Brandenberg's White Wolf (1988)and Brother Wolf: a Forgotten Promise (1993) , the photographs take on a special importance of being truely wild and free animals in an environment that had been stolen from them for so many decades. Also included in this text are several Appendices, outlining the original packs and pack members, detailing their histories and social status and also the 2002 wolf packs, their members, offspring and pack locations around the park.

For those wolf enthusiasts who enjoyed the Yellowstone wolf experience in the books, Yellowstone Wolves (Ferguson) Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone (McNamee) Yellowstone Wolf Guide & Sourcebook (Scullery) and Wolves of Yellowstone (Philips & Smith),this is an essential addition to that collection of documents about the most successful animal re-introduction program ever undertaken. As Henry David Thoreau once wrote -" In wildness Is the preservation of the World "-

I have high expectations of any work of Jim Halfpenny's, but Yellowstone Wolves is absolutely stunning. In logical progression this book describes the latest field biology and the story of one of the few successful wildlife restoration projects. In describing the "how" of returning a key predator to Yellowstone, it answers the more important but harder question of "why."
Unlike similar, decorative nature books with captions and text created to suit stunning photos of posed, penned, or tame animals, this book uses only photos of Yellowstone's free ranging, wild wolves. This is not just a noble abstract ideal, like using recycled products; it is at the root of the editorial concept for the book. Jim has selected each photo to illustrate a specific point in Yellowstone wolf ecology. There are close portraits of individual animals, but they do not dominate. I think the best photos are more distant ones where the body language of the pack illustrates a point of mainstream wolf behavior, like traveling single file in heavy snow, a strong but not necessarily alpha wolf breaking trail for the rest, or an alpha male following the alpha female up a hill. For contrast, there are photos of unusual or individual behavior, like wolf 224M in a "mousing" leap that he is particularly apt to display after a pack kill of conventional prey. It could be play or it could involve things we don't understand yet, as Jim freely admits.
The book concludes with numerous technical appendices, including "snapshot charts" that show, in remarkably compressed shorthand, the gender, age, social standing, and pack of origin for each yearling through alpha member of each pack.
Yellowstone Wolves is the rarest of formats: scientifically gray literature that is also entertaining reading, artistically chosen photographs placed exactly within the text, clear identification of sources for key facts, and clear separation of fact, speculation, personal opinion, and dissenting ideas. It will join the small group of popular books that can be, and are, cited in scientific literature. All in all, it is a first class reference on technical merit disguised as a coffee table decoration.

Dr. James Halfpenny has done a marvelous job of telling the story of the Yellowstone wolves, using photos of the actual animals (no photos of captive wolves, a first for a book of this kind!). He marvelously interweaves biology and research topics with first-hand accounts and stories from the park staff, visitors and volunteers to give a rich account of what the Yellowstone Wolf Project has taught us about this magnificent animal.

The book contains a wealth of information on the wolves, including their reintroduction, the history of the packs, their behavior, and their impact on the entire ecosystem. Plenty of reference material at the end including ID charts and maps round out the factual data. Filled with personal accounts, gorgeous photos and fascinating stories, this book is a must for anyone interested in the most successful endangered species restoration project of the century.

We received our Yellowstone Wolves Book on Monday.
And We, wanted to say Thank You, So much !
This is the BEST book yet.
It will help to keep us close to the Wolves, even down here in Kansas.
Excellent work, and Praise to the Photographer's too !
Can't wait for more like this one.

This book is great for a variety of reasons. If you are an armchair traveller, this book explores the magic of wolves in Yellowstone through stories and pictures. If you are going to travel to Yellowstone, this would be a wonderful book to take with you to help you with your questions about discovering and seeing the Yellowstone wolves. If you are presently an avid wolf watcher in Yellowstone, you would want this book as part of your collection. This book details the history being made during our lifetime.

Dr. Halfpenny delves into difficult and complicated issues revolving around the wolf reintroduction and subsequent survival. He makes the science involved easy to understand and is patient with the reader. Dr. Halfpenny continously makes the reader understand these are wild animals and should be treated and studied that way. But he also allows for the fact that people are interested.

The study involved in this reintroduction has been astonishing. I would love to have seen more on the politics of the reintroduction and hope that Dr. Halfpenny continues to be involved in the wolves of Yellowstone.

Reading this book after a tough day will allow you to experience some of the wilderness and nature that we all need. I was especially moved by the Yellowstone Association class that got to touch the wolves. I would have a similar experience to what those people did if I ever had that opportunity.

Mr. James C. Halfpenny has done a marvelous job at writing about the wovles and nature in Yellowstone N.P. I honestly could not put this book down. His vivid description of the wolves in the wild makes you feel that you are part of the story. It truly makes you feel that you are involved with the wolves of Yellowstone N.P. Makes you feel that you are there. Great reading for all that love nature and Yellowstone N.P.

I read this book just prior to spending a few weeks in Yellowstone, watching wolves. While there, I had the opportunity to briefly meet Dr Halfpenny, and several other scientists who study that ecosystem.

The cover of this book suggests a pretty, coffee table book, not the kind that I would usually order online. That's because I want my textbooks to have more 'meat'. But then when I leafed through this book at a bookstore I realized that there is plenty of scientific analysis, true research. Scientific detail is pleasantly blended with anecdote and beautiful photos, an excellent coffee table book as well. Just the right balance between true biological research and entertainment. My wife and I read this book over the week, and then I bought another text of his, "Yellowstone Bears in the Wild", which is equally good. I have a university biology background, and so I thought that I understood these animals and the ecosystem pretty well. In retrospect I understood very little, a humbling feeling that I think the original team must have had when they reintroduced these animals back to Yellowstone in 1995. In particular, that research team had a unique opportunity to better understand the shifting social dynamic of a pack. For example, when an alpha female loses rank, she doesn't necessarily get to become the supportive, retired grandmother, even if she wants to. And although everybody expected the coyote to be the big loser here, they were wrong, too.

The appendix lists the known wolves in each pack in 1995, 1996, and 2002. You'll find a plasticized update of that in Yellowstone bookstores that is dramatically different now in 2010, so I guess that level of detail is outdated. However, even that allows you to understand how dynamic and vulnerable this species really is.

This is a book for those who think they already know something about wolves.

This book cntains statistics, and facts, and a guide to each ack in yellowstone and how they move and live and where they eat. It has photos of all of the early packs in the days when they were first retuened to yellowstone. A wonderfl book and easy for tAutumn of Blessed Acres service doghe layman to read.

This book has some absolutely amazing pictures as well as a wealth of knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at it the photos as well as reading it.