Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction, United States

Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction is the most iconic rewilding project globally, sparking a trophic cascade that revived riverbanks and elk behavior within just 2 years. A 2023 study confirmed that woody vegetation along the Lamar River increased by 150% in restored areas, directly attributed to wolf predation altering elk browsing patterns. This success, however, is bitterly contested by ranchers in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, who report an average of 100 livestock kills annually from the reintroduced population—a figure that outperforms #2, the European Bison Reintroduction, in both ecological impact and controversy. The project remains a lightning rod for debates between conservationists and agricultural communities.