Wolves are magnificently beautiful creatures which have gotten
the raw end of the deal throughout history as well as in the present.
The wolf has always been portrayed as the terrible creature that stalks
in during the night and carries off precious livestock and children. This
just isn't so. Wolves actually have an innate fear of humans and will avoid
them unless pushed into a corner.
People claim time and again that they have been attacked by wolves, but
once some investigation is done it's found to be false.
According to wolf expert Dr. L. David Mech, there is not one documented
case of a healthy wild wolf killing or seriously injuring a human in North
America. But, despite this myth-shattering fact, the urge to destroy wolves
remains alive today.
Wolves were once respected and revered animals. They were personified
as the embodiment of strength, intelligence, courage, and swiftness and
were percieved to have the ability to look into one's soul and know the
animal within. Their images have been found depicted on cave walls painted
from neolithic times. Shamans and medicine men sought their power and knowledge.
This once greatly honored legend soon became a hunted "savage"
at the widespead fear of economic ruin in Europe. This unfounded panic that
reached a hysterical race against the wolves led to their near extermination
in western Europe, southern Canada, and the United States. In Ireland today
you will find NO wolves.
There have been attempts to introduce wolves into the wild again near
some of the national parks of the United States. This attempt has been severely
hindered by those who are unneccessarily afraid of the wolf. There are legislators
who are attempting to pass - and succeeding - laws and offering monetary
'rewards' for dead wolves.
Efforts are being made to introduce wolves back into their natural homes
of the Yellowstone National Park area and the northern Rockies. These indigenous
creatures to this area have not been seen there for quite a long time. But
still there are threats to their survival.
In today's politically correct United States, wolves are still hunted
and killed for no reason. Nine wolf cubs were born near Yellowstone National
Park during part of a re-introduction process. It is not common knowledge
that only the Alpha male and female will mate in a pack. The whole pack
does not turn out litters of pups each year. Only the one pair turn out
one litter per year (if and when they do). Wolves do not breed and spread
as rapidly as rabbits or other creatures.
Tragedy struck this wolf family early on, even before the pups were born.
The father of the pups was viciously murdered... the head and hide found
in the killer's home.
This is tragic in a multi-level sense. The wolf pups will be raised without
the father to help protect them during their first year or so of their lives.
The mother is now without a mate. Wolves are one of the few species that
mate for life..the father not leaving when the pups are born
as most animals (including humans) do. With the father killed, the population
is now down one more.
Wolves are nearly extinct in North America. Alaska and Minnesota host
the largest Gray Wolf populations in the United States, however Wolves are
endangered in the remaining continental states. World Wildlife Fund works
to protect the coastal temperate rain forest of Alaska, home to Alexander
Archipelago Wolves and other wildlife threatened by habitat destruction.
Hunters also take to the skies in hellicopters to hunt wolves. Targeting
them from the air at greater speeds makes them more easy to prey upon than
the old fashioned hunting and trapping techniques.
We must stop this destruction of all our wild animals, including the
wolf. Our natural resources (including wildlife) are the things we are destroying
the fastest in this world. Once they're gone.. there are no more. Our children,
and our children's children will be left with the vague memory of a wolf
being some huge terrible creature that dresses up in Grandmother's clothes
and awaits a girl dressed in red for a mid-day snack.
What kind of image is this to portray? Especially upon one of nature's
most loving, family oriented creatures. Wolf families stay more bonded than
even most of our own. Perhaps we can learn something from this. Wolves emphasize
communication (through intricate facial expressions, sounds, and body language)
which is strongly urged in human couples today by all the therapists if
we plan on making a relationship work.
Our brothers in nature are doing something that we are too busy to pay
attention to. We should be learning from them.. embracing this knowledge
they are sharing with us.. but instead, we are gunning them down in cold
blood just for the mere sport or due to misguided fear.
Do all you can to help our brothers in nature. The wolf.. as well as
the others. If you don't.. we won't have them around for long. | 
