For example, when gray wolves were eliminated from the Great Plains, coyote numbers exploded. When coyotes were poisoned and shot, fox numbers jumped. Similarly, elimination of red wolves from the southeastern United States was followed by an increase in coyotes and raccoons. Such changes in natural relationships among predators also have led to decreases in other species. The cultural importance of wolves spans the gamut from the spiritual to the moral, from the aesthetic to the recreational.
Wolves can even have positive economic importance for communities close to wolf populations.
The peoples who inhabited North America when Europeans first arrived were well acquainted with wolves. Many Native Americans, incorporating wildlife into their everyday and spiritual lives, credited wolves with an array of powers from the creation of tribes to the ability to heal the sick. The Cheyenne credited wolves with teaching them how to survive by hunting. Since the early 1970s, poll after poll has found that overwhelming majorities of Americans support efforts to protect and restore wolves. In general, survey respondents who favor wolves cite ecological and cultural reasons for their views.