Population

And so they're actually down as being non-essential and experimental.

So what the agencies say is that, well, they're an experimental population.

So if they all die, then it doesn't matter.

Take it or leave it.

We'll just start over.

And they've also listed them as non-essential, which means that do they actually have any impact on the ecosystem? Well, we don't really know and then but what you've shown in the film how wolves change rivers is that wolves do have a really important part to play and a lot of the work that we do is talking to students about the ecological role of wolves because they keep everybody moving so they stop the grazers over grazing on the riparian areas because when they do that they're vulnerable so when the wolves are around they will move on and it gives the opportunity for the plants to regrow and for the beavers to return.

So the thing with our Mexican gray wolves though is we have such a small population that it's really difficult to get the data to show what's going on on the ground because there's so many different factors and Yellowstone is great because it's like this ecological hub.

It's like this, you know, this living lab, if you like, where all of these scientists can come together.