At the start of the New Year I set a goal to make this blog something bigger...more substantial. As a student of science I have an easy time observing what I see around me and being able to relate it to the bigger picture but I have become aware that many people have not developed this observational skill. A large portion of the public have an interest and concern for the world around them but with the news becoming increasingly more subjective, it has become difficult to identify what information can be taken as fact and what should be listened to with a grain of salt (or a handful). I would like to be a source of purely objective information on a variety of topics which concern the environment of which we are an integral piece. Because I can't be Wikipedia and in the interest of time and space, I will also point you towards legitimate resources which you can utilize to continue your own inquiries beyond what I share with you here. With that being said...
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<<remember to click on pictures to open the slide show>>
This post has been a long time coming (I know you all have been patiently waiting for some awesome pictures of wolves and I swear I won't disappoint) but it has proven harder to write than I had anticipated. Since I visited the Endangered Wolf Center in Missouri this last summer, I have been closely following the wolf reintroduction progress and the resulting public response. I have spent countless hours researching all sides of the story; reading everything from forum topics to peer review journals and I've been talking to a myriad of people from hunters to rehabilitators and wildlife managers to everyday citizens; all of their opinions have differed widely on this subject. Needless to say this is a hugely complicated issue, one which I simply can not summarize in a blog post (though I tried in quite a few drafts hahah) I've found that much of the uproar comes from the fact that many people don't see the issue from all sides, or refuse to. To effectively manage the population of wolves we need everyone on board and understanding of each others views. So I would like to share with you an experience I had with my boyfriend a couple months ago and at the end I will include some great links to resources which you can browse at your leisure.
Trevor and I had been dating for about four months when Christmas rolls around...so of course there's the big questions... what do I get him? Nothing too big (it's only been a few months!) but something that shows I appreciate him aaand even better if the gift is a gift for me too!! (don't shake your heads at me! you've all thought it) I had heard about the California Wolf Center and had thought of looking into it for possible internship experience but didn't remember this until the Almighty Groupon reminded me and got me a sweet deal on admission (1/2 off!) I knew Trevor loved wolves and had never seen any up close so it was perfect! Tickets were purchased and delivered with much appreciation and excitement and we began planning our little road trip out to Julian, CA. The little mountain town is about an hour drive east of San Diego and the road out to it winds through some gorgeous countryside.
We had a 2pm appointment (all tours require a reservation) at the Wolf Center for our tour so we left a couple hours early and slowly made our way out to Julian with a lunch stop at Dudley's Bakery. The food was divine and the deck provided a beautiful place to enjoy our meal and break from being in the car.
Around 1:15 we rolled into the quaint downtown of Julian and took a quick look around. We had to meet at the gate to check in for our tour at 1:30 so we departed Julian and continued a short ways out of town and met up with the rest of the visitors. After checking in with staff we followed the caravan down a long windy dirt road...the anticipation building by the second. We crested one final hill and there it was...a wolf!
I was so surprised to see one before we had even entered the compound and urged Trevor to stop and capture the moment (oh there were cars behind us? whatever, they can wait!) It was breathtaking and sad all at the same time, this was the first time Trevor (and probably most of the visitors) had seen a live wolf and it was in an enclosure. I thought of what it would have been like to spot these elusive predators out in their native range and how beautiful (and also frightening hah) those experiences must have been for those who were around when wolves roamed free.
We continued down the dirt road and parked with the others, readying our gear and preparing ourselves for more wolves. Trevor was surprised to see so many people in our group (about 20-30), the CWC has been in Julian since 1977 and he never knew it was there even though he grew up nearby. We also noticed flocks of ravens circling the whole facility which inspired some questions we'd later ask about.
A small path lead to a building and beyond that the wolf enclosures. As we approached the building we caught sight of another wild canine, a coyote (Canis latrans)
Lots of people consider coyotes a nuisance because they so often interact negatively with their pets/livestock but like wolves they are crucial to the ecosystem as pest control. They are highly adaptable and are surprisingly great swimmers. See more on coyote communication research here.
I loved the sign leading into the building. As someone who was fairly educated in wolves, I was hoping to learn something new about wolves.
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
The intern running the tour was really nice and funny as she joked about getting the boring stuff out of the way so we could see the wolves. But what she ended up teaching us was really interesting and everyone in the room got involved with the discussion. She first showed us a variety of canine and feline skulls and we discussed the differences in anatomy and what it told us about those animals. Check out the pictures below and see what you can pick up on:
Photo Credit: desertusa.com
Photo Credit: deer connecticutvalleybiological.com
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
We discussed how jaw muscles attached and how teeth and eye positioning told us more about how these animals hunted. This was pretty fascinating for me since comparative anatomy is something I've been studying in school and I appreciated that, like the sign had said, this was a place of science and education. The intern told us how public education was their main goal other than the daily care of the wolves and she went on to explain how wolf reintroduction has proven more successful than scientists first anticipated. Wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in the mid 90's and what we learned was that the park was actually very sick. Check out this awesome graphic below for more info
Wolves have been termed "biodiversity engineers" and I think this picture says it all.
By the time the presentation was over we were a million times more excited to see the wolves. Not only were we intrigued by our initial interest but now we had ample knowledge about wolves which would help us truly appreciate this opportunity to see them. We exited the building and I was breaking my neck trying to spot one of them.
We watched them watching us. Mild curiosity on their side. I was a squirmy child all over again wanting to pet puppies (ok I've never really grown out of that) but I needed to get closer! The excitement in the group was palpable. Another volunteer, Heather, was our guide to the enclosures and gave us some great advice on where to photograph from and what to expect from the animals when we eventually approached the fence.
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
She explained that Sundays were one of the two feeding days...which explained all the ravens. The silvery stuff in their beaks was actually stolen fish!
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Apparently the CWC gets donations from the navy... in the form of fish :) Each of these wolves get a couple hundred pounds of food twice a week to simulate life in the wild where you aren't going to be eating every day. Wolves are omnivores and will eat anything from meat to berries to insects. The wolves we were allowed to view were those who were not necessarily imprinted but not scared enough of humans to be #1 candidates for release. These wolves were allowed to eat livestock meats, whereas, the wolves which were more likely to be released were not allowed certain meats so they wouldn't have the taste for them upon release.
First we saw the Grey wolves (Canis lupus)... here are some of our favorite pictures.
I couldn't believe how close we were to them. No more than 3 feet as we watched them approach, check us out, mark the fence and then slowly amble away and return to their naps. Some of them looked fierce and intimidating, others were timid and stayed under the shade of the furthest trees. Overall, I got the feeling that they were much like any dog you'd see at the park...just much bigger.
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
These two were the most recent pups (pretty grown up already) and we enjoyed watching them move in complete unison as the approached the fence then they split up walking opposite side of the fence. We had learned about all the non verbal communication that goes on between wolf pack members and it was really neat to see that in action.
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
She then lead us to see the Mexican Grey wolves (Canis lupus baileyi). I didn't quite catch why, but this waiting area to see the Mexican greys was smaller and the fence it was next to was shielded by a few conifers which restricted our view of the entire enclosure.
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
This was a little upsetting as we wanted some up close interaction with these wolves like we had with the others but we ended up getting some beautiful pictures that seemed to capture their mystique.
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
Photo credit: Trevor Adler
The Mexican Grey is a subspecies of the Grey wolf. Meaning they are the same species but because the Mexican Grey reside strictly in the Southwest United States and into Northern Mexico they have become their own separate population and have evolved some physical differences. If you take a look at the pictures you can see that the Mexican Grey is smaller and their coats are reddish, much like the deserts they come from. This subspecies is still highly endangered and their reintroduction is what is of the most concern to conservation efforts at this point as there are only 83 Mexican Grey wolves in the wild. This sounds like such a small number...and it is, but what can be appreciated is that this population has grown from 7 individuals which were rescued from the wild and brought into breeding programs in the 70's. While this species survival is still tenuous the progress made so far speaks volumes of the wonderful work these facilities are doing to reverse the damage humans have done to the wolves. I was so excited to have the opportunity to see such a rare species and learn more about how important their reintroduction is to the ecosystem as a whole.
The tour ended shortly after seeing the Mexican Grey wolves and we stuck around talking to staff about returning for more opportunities to film and work with their facility. We reluctantly walked back to our car and drove back into town still in awe. Neither one of us had words to adequately describe how we were feeling or what to think about what we had just experienced. What hit me the hardest was the thought that wolves have been on the brink of extinction for as long as I have been alive and in the last 5 years have we heard about a wolf entering California. That means very few people in my generation have ever seen a wolf in real life. We've seen lions and tigers and hundreds of other animals not native to this continent but never a wolf!
The one thing that CWC made clear on our tour was that wolves didn't need habitat or resource restoration (like we see with many endangered species) but instead they only need public education and support for their reintroduction. But how is the public supposed to care about wolves when the majority haven't witnessed their power and grace and grown to appreciate them like I have?!
This is a question I continue to ponder and a problem I hope to help resolve in the future. I leave it up to you readers to care enough to go see the wolves and support their conservation.
I've included numerous links to information on where you can get up close with wolves, how different states are responding to reintroduction of wolves, and more resources on everything wolves. This list will be growing as I continue to find locations and relevant news so check back! If there's anything I've left out that you'd like to know about, leave me a little comment and I'll find the information for you!
Enjoy :)
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I love this video. That's it.
- Want to know how to compare and identify a wolf versus a coyote? Check out this link.
- Humans and wolves share some deep roots. Look at this site for more information on myths surrounding wolves.
- Have you seen wild animal cruelty in your town/neighborhood? WildLeaks is a new whistleblower site to report wildlife and forest crime.
- This is a very interesting article by BBC Nature on the reintroduction of wolves in Europe. Looks like it is a hot debate there too. Check it out here and see how opinions vary.
- I loved this piece put out by Montana wolf management. It's a great objective piece with a look at both side of the controversy and where we might find middle ground.
- Idaho used to be one of the biggest fighters for wolf reintroduction and now face the reality of their decision. See where they are now.
- I'm not a huge supporter of Defender's of Wildlife because they are a little too conservative for my tastes but they put out some great literature to help ranchers utilize non lethal solutions to wolf conflicts with their herd.
- This is a lengthy and sometime dull peer review paper about the attitudes of reintroduction of the wolf in Scotland where the red deer population is out of control. If you have some spare time I encourage you to give it a good scan.
- The Grey wolf is facing the possibility of being delisted as an Endangered Species but the Mexican grey wolf is still highly endangered. Check out this comprehensive report that was published by a 3rd party on the US Fish and Wildlife's decision to delist.
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