Wolves – IMAX enlightens us regarding the true nature of this iconic apex predator. Some information is quite dated, traveling back to the heady days of wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies, specifically central Idaho. The Nez Perce tribe, like other wolf advocates, had high hopes for the wolves’ return, after their long absence. How the worm has turned.
Looking back, I see how we were all duped into thinking wolf reintroduction would have a happy ending. In reality, it’s clear there was never any real intent to maintain a viable, robust population of wolves outside the national parks. It seems “the plan” all along was to slaughter wolves in trophy hunts or kill them outright when they “recovered”. Recovery is never defined, except in the outdated, original capitulation to ranching and hunting interests, of 100 wolves and ten breeding pairs per wolf state (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho) Those numbers are not based on science but politics and were never revised to reflect scientific findings or what constitutes a healthy wolf population in the Northern Rockies. Wolf recovery is whatever the “wolf managers” deem it to be. Ten wolves, a hundred, thousands? That’s not a question the states seem interested in answering on their relentless march to decimate wolves .
The arrogance of hunters and ranchers who think they have the right to dictate which animals will be allowed to exist on public lands, is stunning. These lands belong to us all. They’re lucky Americans have been “asleep at the wheel”, allowing the anti-wolf crowd to dictate policy to Western politicians, ready and eager to do their bidding.
Things won’t go their way forever. Congress demonstrated that by stripping the Lummis wolf/ delisting rider from the budget bill. I’m sure it was due in large measure to the outpouring of anger and outrage by conservationists at the stunt Congress pulled this past Spring, delisting wolves in five Western states via budget rider. Doing the same thing again in the same year was not something the Dems were willing to risk, not this close to the 2012 elections.
I hope to see more victories for the wolf in the coming year.
During this holiday season, please take a minute to renew your pledge to do all you can for wolves in 2012. Please remember the 286 fallen wolves, taken so far in the brutal Idaho and Montana hunts. The hunts have splintered, divided and disrupted wolf families, leaving those who remain to struggle on, with no guarantee they’ll live to see another Spring.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
Video: YouTube Black7Cloud, IMAX Wolves – HD
Photo: Courtesy kewlwallpapers.com
Posted in: gray wolf, biodiversity
Tags: IMAX – Wolves HD, gray wolf, trophic cascades, Yellowstone National Park, wolf pack, wolf intolerance, Nez Perce
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
Howling For Justice 
Thank you, for continuing to educate me. Peace to the Wolves. Liisa
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liisahelena,
You’re very welcome, glad you enjoyed the post, my main objective is to speak the truth on this blog, no matter where it leads. Information is power. What we do with it is the important thing.
N.
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I also remember the Wolves “coming back” very well and there was trouble from the start. I was so excited to have them – but I think they did bring them back to sacrifice them to their own bloodlust. I remember them – the Powers then – saying ok and when the Cages got here they already had changed their mind – and those poor Wolves who had travelled so far had to stay in the cages for 3 days before that snafu was unsnafued – one Wolf died –
And then the killings started – dead Wolves found – nobody knew why (well – I think the Killers knew) collared and numbered Wolves killed when they were still on the endangered List – in those days they were supposed be ALL protected by the Government. And every time another Wolf was killed by a Hunter that stayed unknown at the time I cried. Then the stories started – I shot this Wolf because he was going to attack me – yeah right – and so it went for these magnificent animals from the first day on. I guess we were not civilized enough yet to accept them after we had killed them all off in 1930s. I watched and adopted a Wolf in a hand raised Captive Pack – the ones raised by Dutcher and then given to the Nez Perce tribe because they were going to be euthanized – somebody wanted that land back that they were on – so the Tribe was happy and proud to adopt them – after many dirty stories came out of the then WERC (not this one that has a website now) and of all the things that Jamie Dutcher had done in the name of perfect Photography – I did have an “inside” contact – and there were some really bad stories coming out of of the WERC which finally disbanded for – let’s say not using all the donated money for the Wolves.
So it has been going – and why this one Animal is so hunted and hated I do not know – the Stories they could tell and the things they could teach us – what sorry losers we are to have so called Humans among us that kill for fun – just to be killing – something is so very wrong with their thinking – their morals and their minds –
All I can hope for that if there is a future for this World (which I don’t think there is) that maybe the Animals will have the final Victory.
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What great people write to this blog.
I’m unable to view the video. Another is not licenced for viewing in my country. I’ll try a different machine.
I agree. The land is a public trust and not merely an American concern though public use and access, the desire of American people for peaceful parks, should definitely override the clamoring of a relatively small community of sports hunters. Also Yellowstone is a world heritage site. It may be shown that the world community has a right to participate in decision making. There may be a possibility in that direction. Both trapping and sports hunting need to be exposed for what they are. Work on ‘Who Speaks For Wolf’ continues and my objective is to do exactly that. I say this as though countless people haven’t been trying to do the same for decades. And I know my own country is totally corrupt promoting fur trade where ever possible. I can hardly bear to look at images of violence but for this, I can’t find enough. What hunters post is pure outrage. ‘The arrogance of hunters and ranchers who think they have the right to dictate which animals will be allowed to exist on public lands, is stunning.’ Well said.
CMM
For the Wolves
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I never thought “they” did the right thing when reintroducing the Wolves to Killer land, and my worse fears have been confirmed. Do you think “those people” had in mind they were really providing another “game” animal for the assholes that have to kill, kill, kill? It is interesting the the HSUS did not support it at the time (or so they say, I don’t remember). Why don’t they shoot cattle instead?Where are the “kids” today w/ all their tech savy?
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Think about this: Why is Congress in charge of decisions concerning the wolves? Why would the secy of interior be in charge & make decisions on the wolves behalf? If there is to be a CARE TAKER of the wild animals it shouldn’t be either of them. Look what’s happened to the wild horses. I have a newspaper sent to me by a friend that shows a round up by the federal bureau of land management by a helicopter in the butte valley, NW of ELY. These animals were whipped, shocked by a prod & dragged by a rope around the neck & repeatedly shocked with prods. So you see that whether it be wolves, or horses, by the BLM director or other forms, like Congress, these animals are extremely brutalized with inhumane treatment. Wolves are their target as well, & this is due to ranchers & lobbyists insisting on wolves having no protection, & allowed to be hunted & slaughtered.
I have called many of the Commissioners listed on Howling for Justice. e mail quite a bit as well. I want them to feel the pressure for their injustice toward these beautiful creatures. In the meantime let us organize & get a group to think who better to be caretakers of these animals of the wild.
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Caryn not sure if you’ve heard but WWP, The Cloud Foundation, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign filed a lawsuit to block the BLM from gelding 200 wild stallions and remove several thousand more horses from their range. This could be the defining moment that turns all this madness around. There are more wild horses in holding pens then in the wild. I’m so relieved the lawsuit was filed. The BLM wants wild horses and our predators off public land because of pressure from the livestock industry and oil and gas leases. How ridiculous to think 20,000 wild horses are competing with 96 million cattle. The lands promised to the wild horses has been stripped away from them and we want them back. To hell with cows and the livestock industry. (I don’t dislike cows, it’s not their fault they’re abused and exploited)
N.
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I hadn’t heard about this fact of gelding all the stallions. This is what I meant by getting gov out of the wild animals. They screw up everything they touch. Good for Cloud Foundation. There needs to be a cloud foundation for Wolves.
Thanks again for the info.
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You’re welcome Caryn. Western Watersheds Project is also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I have signed SO MANY Petitions to save the wolves – what is it going to take for our Government to realize that the wolf is to be revered and to be saved so further generations can see & learn about the beauty of the Wolves.
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Write a real letter & call. Another is form a group, get lots of good signs & call a TV station who will cover the situation & the government will find out, & hopefully back down. We have to get out there with coverage. Keep up the good work.
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Caryn…This is the kind of action we need all over the country. We need thousands, hundreds of thousands of voices.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I think we have to move beyond petitions Shirley. Obviously they are ignoring them. For a petition to really carry weight it needs hundreds of thousands of signatures, even millions. We can still sign petitions but the grass roots movement HAS to protest and make themselves heard. That means organizing rallies and getting out in the streets by the thousands, like the Occupy movement. Should we silently sit here while wolves are slaughtered? There has to be a change in strategy.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Hello,
First, I am writing from England. I came across this blog after adopting a wolf in my home country at a small privately owned sanctuary that offers a home to ‘displaced’ wolves and I feel good about that. I hope to visit them next year and mix with the wolves, as this is allowed, it’s called ‘Wolf Watch UK’.
I became interested in wolves a few years ago after watching a documentary called ‘The wolf that changed America’, about Lobo and Ernest Thompson Seton. Its a heartbreaking story but does have redemption at its heart and I believe this story is a metaphor not only for what we, Man, has done to the wolf, but for what havoc we have wreaked on the Earth, the words of Chief Seattle, I believe, ought to be ringing in our ears, ‘Whatever befalls the Earth etc.’
I recently read a book called ‘The Philosopher and the wolf’, by Mark Rowlands, a philosophy teacher at Miami Uni, who owned a 96% wolf, which I know in itself some people will have issues with, but his beautiful love of his wolf, called Brennin, is a wonderful testament to the love we can give to those who now depend on us for their very survival and thereby if we should lose them, we will lose our soul and our humanity.
In the book he discusses the differences between us, humans and our simian ways and the wolf, how we have developed from apes into the most wonderful, but yet most lethal animal that seems by way of our wrong thinking ways, to have made the wolf our sworn enemy.
Mark called Brennin, his ‘brother’.
He uses an old mediaeval philosophers phrase to describe how we should ‘draw back’, not unlike that first photograph of Earth taken by the moon astronauts of the Earthrise in 1968, in order to make our decisions wisely.
‘Sub specie aeternitatis’ – ‘Under the gaze of Eternity’
Thank you
Les Grice
England
Keep up the great work ‘for the wolves’.
ps anyone out there read a book called ‘Wild’ by Jay Griffiths?
Not so much a book, more a manifesto to retain our ‘wildness’.
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Thank you Les for all the information. I’m definitely going to read the “Philosopher and the Wolf”. I’m always interested in interactions between wolves, wolfdogs and humans.
We are losing our wild places but more importantly our apex predators, which is changing the Earth in very unpleasant ways. It really is true we are all connected. There are only 20,000 lions left in the wild, fifty years ago there were 1/2 million. That’s how bad things have gotten. Wolves deserve the right to live wild and free. Hunters and ranchers don’t own America and have no right to dictate which animals live or die. It’s time OUR voices were heard.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I received an email from the governor of Montana yesterday. well, at least it came from his office. he tried to tell me that they were ‘managing’ wolves in a scientific manner. he said that they are managing the wolves just like the bear, cougar, elk and deer. mentioned that the wolves had been delisted – so it is apparently ok to just go out and kill??? uhmmm, does he think we are all dumb. I don’t know of any ‘science’ that would say 10 breeding pairs of anything was enough to sustain a wild population!
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equusarian01,
I saw the same letter sent to another person. He is sending out form letters just like every other politician who doesn’t want to answer serious questions put to him. What is happening to wolves in Montana and Idaho can’t be explained away in a form letter. Thanks for writing to him though.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Obama just announced ESA pretections will be removed from the great lakes states in one month, turning control over to the states.
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Yes, wolf delisting is such an important issue to concentrate on when people are losing their homes and jobs. Obama has been one of the worst Presidents on the environment we’ve ever had. Salazar is actually more damaging than James Watt. Well here come the lawsuits.
N.
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That is correct – All the Wolves have lost their protection in the Great Lakes Region – so that is even a bigger area then the three States that started this massacre – yes Obama is certainly not an Animal Lover – and he should have never been President – but he sure did fool me –
I swore I would not vote for him again and I intend to keep that vow – the trouble is that I don’t know who else would actually care what’s going on out there with the Animals and the People’s Land – seems like the Government takes more and more and protects less and less and also gives less and less –
Obama has really taken everything from Humans and Animals alike – and if I have enough energy left – I use it to spend some hateful moments on him – he has no right over the People or the Animals – I do not think he belongs in the US – especially not as President.
I will keep fighting for the Wolves too – but just when I thought maybe it would stop they extended the Hunting Period until Feb 15th and also came out with taking all the Wolves off Protection. I think I am in a state of shock that our outpouring of anger and justice have not been heard or ignored – there are so many of us and so many Organizations fighting – but I guess we have not screamed loud enough yet.
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When & where did you hear that??
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Dansk. JEG elsker ULVEN, og som jeg har lært, er ulven et godt økosystem på denne jord, hvor mennesker har ødelagt alt i naturen, FARME ELLER ULV, skrives der, ULVEN, siger jeg, Farmene har ødelagt alt i den smukke natur, for dyrene derude, og naturen skrumper ind, på grund at folk flytter derud— Jægerne er SÅ modbydelige på deres modbydelige jagt på ulven, stiller fælder ud, – JEG HADER DISSE MODBYDELIGE SNARER OG FÆLDER PÅ dem. NU MÅ der RETFÆRDIGHED TIL FOR DE VILDE DYR, DERUDE, INDEN DE FULDIGSTÆNDIG UDDØR, DISSE FORBANDET SKRIVEBORDS AFTALER, HVEM der skal dø- derude, HADER JEG SOM pesten, INGEN KAN STOPPE MIG med min STORE KÆRLIGHED TIL MIN VEN ULVEN, JEG KÆMPER FOR DEN, OG dræbe dem med skudsalver, hvor de har unger i maven, hvor er det modbydeligt, og skindet må været en USMAGELIGT BLODPELS- JEG håber at folk får øjnene OP NU, FØR ulven og bjørne drab er så udtyndet, AT DET ER FOR SENT. :-((((((- DEM der styrer myrderierne på naturens dyr, må forlade posten nu, DE er smilene jæger- de elsker ikke naturen, JEG forsætter min kamp for dyrelivet, HILSEN ULVENS-STEMME.
Google Translator
http://translate.google.com/
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Just got finished watching the “Wolves” movie. What a beautiful movie. Except for the parts where they are killing wolves. That was hard to take. But, this must of been made a while back? No matter it’s a well made movie. I wonder what has happened to those wolves that are in the movie? I shutter to think.
Thank You Nabeki for posting the movie. Kudos to the folks who are out doing the hard work on taking care of our wolves. Bless their hearts.
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I love the movie Ramses, it really it beautiful.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Loving this blog guys…. Fighting for the reintroduction of wolves to Scotland #acrossthepond 🙂
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So great to have you Shaun and wonderful to hear about what you’re doing. I have some advice though, make sure the government doesn’t saddle the wolves with horrible “management plans” like we have in the Northern Rockies. 100 wolves per state and 10 breeding pairs. That “plan” was set up in the nineties when wolves were reintroduced to pacify the whining ranchers and hunters and it’s come back to really hurt the wolves, now Idaho is going to “manage” them down to the that low number”. The USFWS didn’t do their job and change the outdated “plan” that stood for 16 years, even though they admitted the “science” didn’t support it.
I hope to hear of wolves howling in Scotland one day!!
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Ditto ~ 😉
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Good luck Shaun – I hope that u get wolves back in Scotland.
Thanks for visiting the blog! 😉
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