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Published online 16 October 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1172
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Scientists clash over wolves' endangered status
Legal and academic wrangling sees biologists accused of "crying wolf".
While legal battles continued this week in America over whether the grey wolf is an endangered species, a parallel argument over Canis lupus is playing out on the pages of a high-profile biology journal.
At issue is whether the wolf currently roaming the western Great Lakes area — encompassing Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and parts of Canada — deserves a place on the endangered species list.
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There are not so many wolves that if they got a lethal virus, that a substantial amount of genetic material from a pack or 2 could not be wiped out. Habitat fragmentation further isolates groups into islands increasing their vulnerability to illness.
Aside from the C. latrans element, this article reveals the frequent but unstated confusion between species and subspecies. Writers should get in the habit of distinguishing between the two levels. I personally know there are wolves in this region; but the problem the laws don't address is the recovery of natural range. It's not good enough to have a viable population with enough gene flow; the species must be helped and allowed to re-inhabit most of its natural range to be taken off the list.