Noah Agocs
Research Agenda
ARTICLES & LITERATURE REVIEW
​These are some summaries of the most important scientific sources that I have been using in my research. You will find them referenced throughout the work here on this portfolio. Enjoy!
***NOTE THAT I AM NOT ABLE TO ADD THE HANGING INDENTATION INTO WIX FORMATTING.***
1. “Wolves Outperform Dogs in Following Human Social Cues”
Udell, Monique A.R., et al. “Wolves outperform dogs in following human social cues.” Animal Behaviour, vol. 76, no. 6, 21 Sept. 2008, pp. 1767–1773, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.07.028.
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LINK: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.07.028
“Wolves Outperform Dogs in Following Human Social Cues” was published in the journal Animal Behaviour on September 21st, 2008 by Monique Udell, an Associate Professor of Animal and Rangeland Sciences at Oregon State University. The researchers had groups of dogs and wolves perform various tests designed to measure their cognitive abilities, and found that when trained properly, wolves were able to outperform domestic dogs on some of the tasks. This is significant because earlier studies suggested that wolves were not able to achieve the same level of cognitive complexity as dogs, but the researchers attribute this to “differences in the testing environment”. These findings bring new depth to our understanding of wolves and help prove that human socialization and other rearing conditions trump any genetic factors in developing cognitive complexity. Overall, this research builds off of the previous studies (citing them in the bibliography) but pays closer attention to the testing variables that may have influenced their results. Out of the studies included here, it is the most recent (though it was still published in 2008 so not necessarily the most relevant as of today).
2. “A Simple Reason for a Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back at Humans, but Dogs Do”
Miklósi, Ádám, et al. “A Simple Reason for a Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back at Humans, but Dogs Do.” Current Biology, vol. 13, no. 9, 29 Apr. 2003, pp. 763–766, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0960-9822(03)00263-x.
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00263-X
“A Simple Reason for a Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back at Humans, but Dogs Do” was published in the journal Current Biology on April 29th, 2003 by Ádám Miklósi, who works in the Department of Ethology at Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary. The experiment involved having wolves and dogs following touching and pointing cues in order to locate hidden food. They found that species were able to follow the cues to some extent, but the dogs’ performance remained superior to that of the wolves. The researchers concluded that centuries of dog-human interaction has led to a complex type of communication between the two that cannot be replicated in other species after just a few training sessions. This study lends credence to the idea that dogs and humans share a special bond, and that this relationship is indicated by “the readiness of dogs to look at the human face”. That conclusion serves as the foundation for the article I discussed above, which in some ways refuted the ideas mentioned here.
3. “Comprehension of human pointing gestures in young human-reared wolves (canis lupus) and dogs (canis familiaris).”
Virányi, Zsófia, et al. “Comprehension of human pointing gestures in young human-reared wolves (canis lupus) and dogs (canis familiaris).” Animal Cognition, vol. 11, no. 3, 9 Jan. 2008, pp. 373–387, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-007-0127-y.
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-007-0127-y
The article “Comprehension of human pointing gestures in young human-reared wolves (canis lupus) and dogs (canis familiaris).” was published in the journal Animal Cognition on January 9th, 2003 by Zsófia Virányi, who also works in the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. Similarly to the other study, the researchers trained dog and wolf pups to follow human cues (pointing), then measured their performance at doing so. They found that while dog pups could easily use the pointing cue to locate hidden food even without prior socialization, wolf pups could not. This suggests that wolves have a limited cognitive ability at birth when compared to dogs, but that they do have the capacity to learn to follow cues over time when given exposure to humans every day. The researchers in the first study I wrote about cited this research heavily, since it provides important background information on previous attempts to socialize wolves. It also involves using wolf/dog pups, as opposed to the more mature individuals who participated in the 2008 study.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
1. "Testing a conservation compromise: No evidence that public wolf hunting in Slovakia reduced livestock losses."
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This study talks about how reducing wolf populations in Slovakia was not a successful measure to reduce the killing of livestock for farmers. I predict that this will be super useful for my advocacy project, since it refutes the entire idea that cruel wolf hunts like those discussed in the paper are necessary in order to protect local communities and farming operations. Taking down that argument will be a central part of my essay.
2. "America’s New War on Wolves and Why It Must Be Stopped"
Williams, Ted. “America’s New War on Wolves and Why It Must Be Stopped.” Yale E360, Yale School of the Environment, 17 Feb. 2022, e360.yale.edu/features/americas-new-war-on-wolves-and-why-it-must-be-stopped.
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LINK: https://e360.yale.edu/features/americas-new-war-on-wolves-and-why-it-must-be-stopped
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This was a super interesting article that claimed that the issue of wolf trophy hunting was inherently a political one. The hunters see killing wolves and other endangered animals as an easy way to provoke liberal individuals and politicians, while claiming that it is necessary in order to protect elk, deer and other species. In reality, wolves are a key factor to maintaining ecosystem balance, and an overpopulation of elk or deer can have significant negative consequences for forest areas. I will definitely be quoting some parts of this article, since it helps explain why the issue (hunting) is the way it is, and why the government has done so little to mitigate it (in some cases encouraging it).
3. "Ecological Advantages of Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) Reintroductions and Recolonizations in North America"
Villeneuve, Kimberly A., and Gilbert Proulx. "Ecological advantages of grey wolf (Canis lupus) reintroductions and recolonizations in North America." Wildlife conservation and management in the 21st century ̶Issues, solutions, and new concepts. Alpha Wildlife Publications, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada (2024): 181-195
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I like this source because it gives a sense of many of the positive benefits of having wolves as part of an ecosystem. The article draws on many case studies across North America to underscore exactly why we need to be more focused on conserving wolves as a society. I plan to use this as part of my case AGAINST wolf trophy hunting by pointing out how forests need wolves in order to manage invasive species, remove diseased animals and improve the overall biodiversity of an area. I'm hoping that these facts will make for a compelling argument.
SOLUTIONS
​1. "Service Announces Gray Wolf Finding and National Recovery Plan"
“U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Completes Status Review and Finding for Gray Wolves in the Western United States; Launches National Recovery Plan.” FWS.Gov, 2 Feb. 2024, https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2024-02/service-announces-gray-wolf-finding-and-national-recovery-plan. Accessed 28 May 2024.
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This is a press release from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a government agency that manages wildlife conservation laws and endangered species in the United States. Here, they discuss how they have implemented a new National Recovery Plan to help recover grey wolf populations in states across the country. The initiative will be focused on "a vision for species recovery that is connected to site-specific actions" to mitigate threats. Importantly, the plan itself does not change the conservation status of grey wolves, but may influence other actions further down the road. I plan to include this source as an example of a "global" solution to wolf trophy hunting in my Advocacy Project essay.
2. "Science Prevailed in Contentious Wolf Debate"
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LINK: https://www.sierraclub.org/wisconsin/blog/2023/11/science-prevailed-contentious-wolf-debate
This article was basically about a state-specific version of the Recovery Plan discussed above. The Sierra Club's Wisconsin chapter was able to successfully convince their state's Natural Resources Board to implement a new Wolf Management Plan that incorporates input from wolf-adjacent community members, tribal leaders and conservation experts (similar to FWS plan). However, this plan is much more robust and details more robust measures that they plan to execute as soon as possible, such as revisions to existing legislation, creating new zoning areas for wolves and increasing public education around wolf management. In my Advocacy Project, this will be included as another of a global solution, since it involves using government policy to enact change.
3. "A Fight Over Wolves Pits Facts Against Feelings in Wisconsin"
Campbell, Leah. “A Fight over Wolves Pits Facts against Feelings in Wisconsin.” Undark Magazine, 3 June 2022, undark.org/2022/06/06/a-fight-over-wolves-pits-facts-against-feelings-in-wisconsin/.
LINK: https://undark.org/2022/06/06/a-fight-over-wolves-pits-facts-against-feelings-in-wisconsin/
This article dives pretty deep into the complexities of determining effective wolf management policy, specifically focusing on Wisconsin. To me, this really emphasized the importance of spreading truthful information, since the piece made note that while both sides of the wolf debate claimed to be basing their ideas off of the "best available science", much of the information out there is actually misinformation and it is very easy to mislead the general public into holding a given attitude towards something. I'm planning on incorporating this into a more "grassroots solution" for my readers, wherein I encourage them to combat misinformation using social media and help set the record straight for people they know, so that we can all better understand why wolves are a net benefit for society.