Dire Wolf

The extinct dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus[), living alongside the Columbian mammoth throughout the Pleistocene era, were pack hunters that evolved in North America, traversing the land while hunting the largest of mammalian grazers. Prior research labeled the short-faced bear, a fearsome and large prehistoric bear, as the apex predator of terrestrial San Francisco Bay; however recent studies depict the dire wolves as taking on this role. Dire wolves were pack hunters, achieving incredibly successful hunting when surrounding the largest of herbivorous mammals such as the Columbian mammoth and mastodon. The ecological importance of wolves is clear today: their inadvertent removal from Yellowstone National Park lead to a cycle of ecosystem degradation as elk overgrazed the region. Wolves were reintroduced, dramatically restoring the quintessential diversity of species. Although the dire wolf is now extinct, other canines like gray wolves present in Northern California are currently undergoing the process of facilitated population growth. As the dire wolves of the Pleistocene regulated populations of herbivores, the present interest in gray wolves provides hope for a similar outcome in the San Francisco Bay Area.