This is Scientific American 60 Second Science. I'm Emily Schwang.

Wolves are vital players in various ecosystems,

so we humans need to develop a better tolerance for them.

And the wolves, they need more space.

That's according to a new study in the journal Nature Communications.

The key implication here is it sort of begins to reframe the entire discussion of conservation because historically

Our model has been sort of almost a postage stamp model where we protect certain areas and try to maintain intact

assemblages of animals.

University of Washington Ecologist Aaron Worsing who took part in the study says the

findings could lead to changes and how wildlife and land managers create policy.

We need to allow predators to occupy more landscapes than just remote protected areas.

On the other hand, we also need to heavily manage them

recognizing again that they do conflict with people. That's why we're

things not calling for wolves to simply roam free throughout North America,

Europe, or Australia.

All places the researchers examined

that have dealt with conflicts among people,

their livestock, and wolves.

But wildlife management plans should take into account that wolves, although they do sometimes

kill ranch animals, can also prevent such deaths by driving away other predators.

Worldwide, smaller meso predators like coyotes, jackals and such, actually themselves prey pretty heavily on livestock and can cause a lot of economic damage.

So wolves could become a net positive in their relationship with people

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