Among Wolves: Lives at Peril in Denali National Park Margaret - TopicsExpress



          

Among Wolves: Lives at Peril in Denali National Park Margaret Bauman / The Cordova Times / November 7, 2013 Among Wolves Gordon Haber and Marybeth Holleman University of Alaska Press Fairbanks, Alaska Most of us think of a national parks, particularly places like Denali National Park and Reserve, as place where nature can indeed run wild, in an environment thousands of years old, that sustains a broad array of Americas best wildlife. Yet in Denali National Park, a magnet for thousands of Alaskans and visitors from all over the world who come to see wolves in this magnificent setting, time could be running out. Alaskas predator control program continues to expand and the states Board of Game has consistently refused to create protective buffer zones; and the state continues to manage wolves by population numbers alone, without consideration of family group structure and traditions, or of the significance of particular wolves, writes Marybeth Holleman, in Among Wolves, a love story and a plea for the wolves of Denali . Holleman collaborated with Gordon Haber, who died in a plane crash in October of 2009 during one of his hundreds of research trips to the park, to co-author this saga on the wolves of Denali. Habers descriptions of his observations of the wolves fill the book, along with commentary from Holleman and several of the people who shared in Habers adventures in Denali. Since Gordon Habers death, writes Holleman, in an epilogue and tribute to Haber, information about Denalis wolves has become limited. No other biologist is out in the field with any regularity to observe and report on the wolves status. What little we know is that things have seriously deteriorated for both Denalis and Alaskas wild wolves. The state has implemented the largest de facto predator control Alaskas wolves have ever endured, and Denalis wolf population has plummeted. Meanwhile, wildlife managers in Alaska and elsewhere largely ignore Habers findings and manage simply by numbers, even though events keep proving him correct. Haber, a classic dissenter and consummate scientist, first came to Denali in 1966, a 24-year-old eager to experience Alaskas wilderness, and landed a summer job as a ranger-naturalist at Eielson Visitor Center, but it was the wolves that kept him there. For the next 43 years, until the plane crash that took his life, he devoted himself to learning all he could about the wolves of Denali, wrote Holleman. Two questions drive this book, Holleman said. First, what truths about the lives of Denalis wolves, and the impacts of human exploitation, did this detailed, long-term research reveal? And second, what compels individuals to stick to their work and ideals when they are continually met with resistance from all sides - not just hunters and trappers, but also state and federal officials, and even other wolf biologists? Habers voluminous notes on his observations of the wolf families of Denali are very detailed, capturing their intensely family oriented lives, courtship, raising pups and teaching them how to survive and thrive in the wilderness. Wolves are monogamous, something that is relatively rare in the animal world, and their reproductive bonds are at the heart of wolf social organization, he noted. Their bonds easily rival or exceed typical human marital bonds in their strength, and the bond between primary alpha breeders is the most important relationship in the group. Haber followed the families of Denali wolves in the park, describing these courtships, rearing of pups, and their deaths in snare traps on the edge of the park, scenes that should pull at the heartstrings of many readers. One Toklat alpha female caught in a trap and a snare just outside the northeast park boundary in late January 2005 had a GPS radio-collar locator. Her necropsy results and other information indicated that she probably struggled for two weeks while caught, until the trapper shot her and took her away on Feb. 11, Haber wrote. Her mate had remained with or near her during most if not all of her two-week midwinter ordeal, and later kept retracing the miles between their den to the trapping area, intent on finding his mate. When we left, he was sitting alone atop a high plateau, howling over and over again in obvious distress toward the trapping site a few miles away, Haber wrote. Not many months later, the Toklat male was shot by a hunter outside the southeast corner of the park, and all the remained of the Toklat family were six inexperienced yearlings and two-year-olds. Just like the wolves, wrote Holleman, we humans accomplish things only in community. She noted the contributions of many people, including Habers family, Friends of Animals and others, including her husband, Rick Steiner, in supporting the project. Her hope is that by sharing Habers unique, insightful, valuable conclusions that people will better understand wolves and help change the course of wolf management, inspire a new generation of scientists like Haber, and retain their sense of wonder for Alaskas wildlife. You can reach Margaret Bauman with comments and suggestions at mbauman@thecordovatimes
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 00:17:14 +0000

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