Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Well it looks like Alaska's predator control program has managed to wipe out an entire wolf pack. I assume that is considered a success.

Courtesy of the Guardian:

The world’s longest-studied wolf pack may have been wiped out, wildlife officials fear amid an escalating battle between federal and state authorities in Alaska over the aggressive hunting of predators such as wolves and bears. 

The East Fork wolf pack, found near Denali, North America’s tallest mountain, was first researched in the 1930s and provided the first detailed accounts of wolf behavior and ecology. But years of hunting, trapping and habitat disturbance reduced numbers to just one known female, a male and two pups earlier this year. It’s now believed all may have perished.

Bridget Borg, a biologist at the National Park Service, said that the body of the radio collared male wolf was seen at a hunting camp and there appears to be no sign of the female nor pups. 

“We investigated a den site after,” Borg told Alaska Public Media. “There was clear evidence it was not being used as evidenced by vegetation that was growing around the entrance to the den site.” 

Three of the four pack members fitted with tracking collars have now been killed by hunters in the past year. The possible demise of the entire pack, which was once a common sight for visitors entering Denali, also America’s largest national park, is likely to heighten criticism of Alaska’s intensive hunting of its largest predators.

Yes but will it change anything?

Probably not so long as the Republicans run this state.

After all the only lives they care about preserving are those of unborn humans.

20 comments:

  1. Ah goddammit I'm crying as i try to type this! Why do people want to kill a wolf that did nothing violent against them? Do they just not get a thrill from anything else in life? Why not just put that rifle up to your own jaw and your finger on the trigger and see what happens, how's that for a thrill?
    Many Native cultures valued wolves as teachers of family values. There's no better family system than the wolves' when it comes to raising young. I personally don't like how wolves rid themselves of the too-old alpha males and females, as wolves don't have palliative/hospice care centres to send their terminally old/ill to. That's not the point.

    In BC Canada, near Golden, is the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre. I urge anyone who can to tour this facility. There you "might" get to hike with some of the house pack, if the owner-operators who serve as the pack's alphas think you are a good fit and wont stress the wolves. Lemme just say that almost 10 years later, after hiking with the wonderful Casey and Shelley Black,and Aspen & Tuk, the 2 wolves they picked for our hike, I still get goosebumps from that experience. Like nothing else in the world, MAGIC. These aren't destructive creatures at all. WE ARE. Humans are so jealous and resentful of wolves. It's more than just fear. These animals are not 'animals', they are like another nation within our own, and THAT is what they're killed for(who the hell eats wolf meat).
    I looked directly into the eyes of these wolves(quickly, so as not to seem aggressive to them) and saw Someone looking back at me. Someone who was more than my equal. Instead of an ammosexuals' FEAR, I felt humbled and awed. I still do to this day, please forgive any typos here,as im crying my eyes out. We lost something here we can never get back or understand the priceless value of.

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    1. Anonymous6:03 AM

      Now you have me crying Alice. Thank you for your comment.
      Growing up in Canada, we often had wolf sightings near our town. It was always magical to think those beautiful ahi,ale were so close, maybe watching us.

      Mildred

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    2. Curious Alice,
      I am crying too, I have no words, except RIP Toklat pack of Denali.
      Gordan Haber found for Denali Buffer Zone but his death in Oct 09 ended the fight and as IF wolves can Read signs, they have been poached and baited to go off park lands. Well, when the WORD gets around there are NO more wolves to see in Denali and all the offices that depend on tourist will suffer, and it is TOO LATE now, for your Tourist biz and Toklat pack.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:20 AM

      Crystalwolflady, the Lamar valley region in Yellowstone will be the draw for wolf tourism now. A few winters ago we had a lovely 2 weeks in that place and met MANY avid 'wolfers'. We all 'shot' members of the Lamar pack(the Druids, who have now been destroyed/scattered) with our damn cameras! And cursed and cursed wolf killers.
      There are a LOT of wolfers out there, and we are a passionate people. Alaska fucked itself royally by allowing assholes like Palin to hunt wolves. Her type just want the temporary $$ that wolf-murder garners.
      Non-lethal wolf tourism is a self-sustaining income source.
      RIP Toklat! We'll never forget, and never stop mourning this incalculable loss.

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  2. Anonymous5:10 AM

    I don't believe the gun freaks are scared of wolves. They just like to kill.

    Look at the light in Sarah Palin's eyes when she talks about any kind of violence- her eyes literally light up.

    I'm so lucky I don't have to live among sickos.

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    1. Anonymous5:31 AM

      Killing a wolf is so much more 'manly' than killing a bunny or a birdie. While ammosexuals LOVE to kill, it's waaay more thrilling to have a dead wolf stuffed/mounted in your home than a taxidermied bunny/birdie to show off to your fellow ammosexuals when they come over for a meth buffet.
      Why, you could even lie and say that wolf was shot in mid-leap as it tried to attack you! So brave with a gun arent they?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5:34 AM

    Alaska will never see one thin dime of my tourist dollar and I wish I could take back the welfare the state gets via my tax dollars. They don't deserve it one tiny but.

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    1. Anonymous8:39 AM

      I agree. And I'm sure "responsible hunters" like the you-know-who family (not the Palins, though they are guilty too) are really happy.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:07 AM

      Alaska joined my list of "never visit states" when Sarah Palin came to the fore.
      Beaglemom

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    3. Anonymous9:58 AM

      9:07am

      Wow, that's really sad as there is so much more to our beautiful state than that one stupid bitch.

      If you ever change your mind, It is something that you should do while you are young, although we don't get many younger tourists because the trip is so very expensive.

      It's so sad to see the endless parade of seniors each summer visiting Alaska but now to old and infirm to enjoy all of our fabulous outdoor activities, and instead only see what is available outside their bus or train windows.

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    4. Anonymous10:40 AM

      Hmm. Will the Yellowstone packs be all we have left? Even they are dwindling...the Druid pack had only a few survivors, and they have scattered. I feel privileged to have seen a couple of Druid wolves back in the early 2000's. I'm so sad they're gone.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:59 AM

    Many people are saying Sarah feeds her pack of hyenas spicy wolf chili for dinner.

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    1. Anonymous10:41 AM

      Wish that wolf murderer(Jill murderer, too) would spike that chili with some bitter almonds, hint.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous6:03 AM

    Wicked witch of the North must be happy.

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  6. Anonymous6:35 AM

    OT? BLM!
    http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/watch-terrifying-video-of-car-slamming-into-blacklivesmatter-protester-in-ferguson/

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    1. Anonymous7:32 AM

      THIS made me cry too: "He was the greatest Australian sprinter in history and the holder of the 200 meter record, yet he wasn’t even invited to the Olympics in Sydney." "Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Norman’s friends since that moment in 1968, were his pallbearers,"“He paid the price with his choice,” explained Tommie Smith. “It wasn’t just a simple gesture to help us, it was HIS fight. He was a white man, a white Australian man among two men of color, standing up in the moment of victory, all in the name of the same thing.”
      "John Carlos explains that Norman wanted his spot empty so that anyone visiting the statue could stand on it and have their photo taken on the plinth, standing in solidarity with Smith and Carlos, as he had done." BLM!
      http://www.littlethings.com/real-peter-norman-story/?utm_source=LTcom&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=inspiring

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    2. Anonymous8:15 AM

      Gryphen - these wolves weren't killed as part of a state predator control program, they were hunted on state land outside the park. No one targeted this pack.

      There are tens of thousands of wolves in Alaska. They are born, they live and they die. Very few die of what we would consider old age. Some starve, some die from disease, some are killed by other wolves, some are hunted and trapped.

      Their "family" is perfect for them but is not something even the most generous lupophile (yeah I made that up) would want to emulate. Packs are often pushed out or killed out of a territory - then eventually a new pack moves in if it can sustain them.

      Hunting and trapping wolves is legal in Alaska. It's not a good thing or bad thing it just is.

      Don't get me wrong. Every time I've encountered a wolf it's a very special experience. But that doesn't mean that I want to diminish their lives as wild predators by having them live their lives inside a protected park.

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  7. Anonymous8:23 AM

    The Aussies treated Norman like shit for years when he returned from the Games. Racist country kinda like this one. I watched a great doco about this good man.

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  8. Anonymous1:36 PM

    Makes me sad that these magnificent animals have been exterminated for no reason at all.

    There is absolutely no reason to hunt wolves; I do no buy the crap about them killing caribou and lowering the numbers.

    Men kill more caribou with their AK47s than a pack of wolves, Wolves are is Mother Nature’s way of weeding out the weakest.

    Personally, I would love to see these "hunters" chased by a pack of wolves and bears, until they are exhausted, then shot just for fun.

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  9. Anonymous3:52 PM

    What is going on up there? The game commission is spending allot of money and effort on the predator control program. Under the guise that the locals have to eat.I am a hunter and fisherman and I know it,s all about money. trophy hunting!I,am not against a hunter or trapper taking wolves but what the game commission is doing is unethical. just the opinion of a lower 48er.So the short version is stop the B.S.

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