Lesson 10:Saving the Mexican Wolves

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Mexican wolves once roamed throughout parts of thesouthwestern United States and Mexico. Their habitat consistedof mountain woodlands and forests, as well as grasslands andshrublands. Though Mexican wolves are carnivores, plant life isimportant for their survival. That’s because plants provide foodfor deer and elk, the wolves’ primary prey. If the plant populationcannot support herds of deer and elk, the wolves may nothave enough to eat.The Mexican wolf is an example of an apex predator. Anapex predator has no natural enemies. It is at the top of the foodchain. Despite its position as top predator, the Mexican wolf isaffected by the other plants and animals in its ecosystem becauseeverything in an ecosystem is connected. In the case of theMexican wolf, survival depends upon a sufficient quantity ofdeer, elk, and other mammals on which they can feed. Theseherbivores live off the available supply of edible plants. If adrought causes the plants to die, the population of herbivoreswill decrease. This affects the wolves.This wolf’sposture says,“I’m going toattack now!”5
DeerMexicanWolfElkPlantsSunA food chain shows how energy moves from the sun to plants andthen to animals in an ecosystem. This diagram shows the food chainin the Mexican wolves’ ecosystem.As predators, wolves help keep other animal populationsunder control. Without wolves, the deer and elk populationswould grow too large. They would devour the plants in theirhabitat faster than the plants can grow. Other herbivores, suchas rabbits and mice, would suffer as a result. Every part of anecosystem—water, sunlight, vegetation, herbivores, and carnivores—worktogether to keep it in balance.Some people believe that wolves can completely kill off allthe deer or elk in their habitat, but that is not the case. Wolveskeep the population of deer and elk under control withouteliminating them. And because wolf packs tend to select weak,unhealthy animals to hunt, they help the herbivore populationremain strong and healthy. This varies from the way otherpredators such as bears or cougars hunt. These animals ambushboth healthy and unhealthy animals.6
Page 2 and 3: Saving theMexican Wolvesby Sasha Gr
Page 4 and 5: Did you know? Wolves can run upto 3
Page 8 and 9: The Clash of Wolves and PeopleThe M
Page 10 and 11: The government officially supported
Page 12 and 13: The Wolves Make a ComebackOne of th
Page 14 and 15: The group also had to find just the
Page 16 and 17: The White Mountain Apache—Friends
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Page 20 and 21: RespondingTARGET SKILL Main Ideas a
Page 22: Level: VDRA: 50Genre:Informational

Lesson 10:Saving the Mexican Wolves

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