Doug Smith (left) & Mike Phillips waiting to transport a wolf in a shipping container. (Photo Barry O’Neill/NPS.)
The wolf is one of Yellowstone National Park’s most important predators. They once roamed the landscape and influenced the ecosystem for thousands of years. In an effort to tame the wilderness, the U.S. government eradicated wolves, along with other carnivores like cougars and bears, from Yellowstone in the 1920s. This action had a profound effect on the park; elks boomed in the absence of carnivores and there were significant changes in vegetation. Other factors of the food web were significantly altered, including beavers becoming increasingly rare.
Doug Smith (left) & Mike Phillips preparing to release wolf #3 at the Fishing Bridge service road. (Photo Jim Peaco/NPS.)
Starting with the watershed Endangered Species Act in the 1970s, and finally in 1995 with all the pieces in place, a collection of scientists successfully relocated fourteen gray wolves to Yellowstone's Lamar Valley, triggering the Yellowstone Wolf Project.
Learn all about this story at Walton Arts Center at National Geographic Live: The Wild Wolves of Yellowstone on Tuesday, May 12 at 7 pm. Join wildlife biologist Doug Smith on assignment in the park to see how the landscape has changed since the wolves arrived, including never-before-seen photos and videos of the quest to bring back this apex predator.
Smith studied wildlife from beavers to birds in Yellowstone National Park for nearly 30 years. Before arriving in Yellowstone, Smith earned his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno, and worked for more than a decade at Isle National Park in Michigan.
He has written numerous scientific publications and has been featured in four National Geographic television specials, as well as interviewed by the likes of “60 Minutes” and the BBC. He has also written and edited several books about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, including the 2023 book Yellowstone’s Birds: Diversity and Abundance in the World’s First National Park. Expanding on his outdoor explorations, Smith is an avid canoeist, having paddled many remote rivers in Alaska and northern Canada.
This show is part of our 10x10 Arts Series, a collection of $10 shows curated to allow audiences to explore something new, and our annual Artosphere Arts + Nature Festival, which hosts dozens of free or low cost events and performances inspired by nature.