If you can read,you might want to read this dumb fck.The heard dropped from 17k to 3900....just a coincidence from the infusion of the Wolf in 1995. The Cougars and Bears have always been there, so don't use that straw man argument.

After decades of debate over whether this range was overgrazed by too many elk, public concern has shifted to the herd’s small size. The winter count, which was approximately 17,000 when wolf reintroduction began in 1995, fell below 10,000 in 2003. It fluctuated between 6,000 and 7,000 as the wolf population on the park’s northern range declined from 94 in 2007 to 79 by the end of 2012. The elk count dropped to 3,915 in early 2013, the lowest since culling ended in the park in the 1960s. However, 4,844 elk were counted in winter 2015 suggesting the decline has stabilized. Decreased numbers have been attributed to large carnivore recovery (wolves, cougars, bears), hunter harvest, and drought-related effects on pregnancy and survival. The State of Montana has reduced the permits issued for this herd so that hunting of females now has little impact on population size.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/elkinfo.htm