Kinessa Johnson is a US Army veteran who served for 4 years in Afghanistan, this week she arrived in Africa to take on a different kind of enemy. Her new mission is, as she puts it, “We’re going over there to do some anti-poaching, kill some bad guys, and do some good.” She is now enlisted with Veterans Empowered To Protect African Wildlife (VETPAW) as an anti-poaching advisor. VETPAW is a not-for-profit organization that employs US Veterans to help protect African wildlife from being illegally hunted and captured.
Ms. Johnson and her team of fellow Vets arrived in Tanzania on March 26th and began their work. She has already noticed a decrease in poaching activity in her team’s immediate area because their presence is known. Which is easy to understand, who would want to fight it out with a battle proven warrior like Johnson? Her team’s primary focus will…
“Alpha male wolf plays with and regurgitates food for 4 pups in a high density brown bear (grizzly) feeding area of the Katmai coast, Alaska. filmed by naturalist guide Brad Josephs”
Looks like dad has his hands full with four hungry pups. Watch how he regurgitates food for them as they lick his mouth. They just can’t get enough. He’s one dedicated alpha male and there are brown bears around too.
Wolves are the parents, the mothers, the fathers, the brothers and sisters that we always hoped we could be….Ed Bangs, Former Wolf Recovery Coordinator, USFWS
===
Video: YouTube Courtesy Brad Josephs
Photo: Screen Grab Courtesy Brad Josephs
Posted in: Coastal gray wolves, Brown Bears, Biodiversity
Tags: wolf pups, wolf dad feeds pups, Katmai Coast Alaska, Coastal wolves, Coastal brown bears, biodiversity, Brad Josephs
Speak for Wolves is a project that aims to educate, inspire and organize citizens to work towards reforming wildlife management in America. Join fellow wildlife advocates on August 7-9 at the Union Pacific Dining Lodge in West Yellowstone, Montana for Speak for Wolves 2015.
===
The second of the five keys to reforming wildlife management in America.
2. Remove Grazing From All Federal Public Lands
Grazing is the most ecologically damaging form of land use in the arid America West. Research has proven that non-native livestock is responsible for soil compaction, destruction of wetlands and riparian zones, a decrease in water retention and aquifer recharge, soil erosion, flooding, a net-loss of biodiversity and large amounts of methane gas. Livestock grazing contributes to the spread of harmful invasive plant species, which greatly affects the West’s historic fire regime. To make matters worse, the American taxpayer heavily subsidizes destructive grazing practices every year to the tune of tens, if not, hundreds of millions of dollars. At the very least, the federal grazing fee ($1.69 cow/calf pair) must be substantially raised to recoup administrative costs, voluntary grazing retirement (grazing permits are bought out by conservation groups) needs to be enabled on all federal public lands, and Congress must cease the use of legislative riders to handicap the ability of federal agencies, and the public, to use our public land laws to asses the cumulative impacts of harmful grazing.
On March 28, 2008, almost seven years ago, a cherished Druid Peak pack wolf, nick-named Limpy, was shot dead outside Daniel,Wyoming. It happened on the day wolves, in the Northern Rockies, lost their ESA protections for the first time by the then Bush Administration.
“He died for nothing” said Lake City resident Marlene Foard. A senseless death for a beloved wolf.
RIP Limpy – we remember and miss you!
Here is Limpy’s story told by the Trib.com.
===
The life and death of wolf 253
Posted: Sunday, April 13, 2008 12:00 am Trib.com
FRANZ CAMENZIND
A wolf died the other day in Wyoming. Along with three others, it was shot and killed on the first day that wolves in most of the state lost the protection of the Endangered Species Act. These were legal kills made by people simply because they could. Nothing more was required of them but to report the kills to state officials – no license, no fees, no restrictions.
For sportsmen, one of the proudly held rules is: “Know Your Target.” What did these hunters know about their targets?
One of the four dead wolves was a female that may have been pregnant. Two of the males were unknown and will be remembered simply as body count numbers in the West’s war on wolves. But one wolf has a history known to many throughout the region. To some he was “Limpy,” to others he was “The Wanderer.” Officially, he was 253M, the 253rd wolf to be radio-collared in the Greater Yellowstone area since wolves were reintroduced in the mid-90s.
253M was born in April 2000 into the Druid Peak Pack, whose territory encompasses Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley. His father was likely 21M, a leader of renown and a story unto himself. 21M was one of the first generation of wolves born in Yellowstone in more than 60 years.
253M was black, as are nearly half of Yellowstone’s wolves. Before he was two, he was injured defending his territory from intruders from a nearby pack. Although the Druids held their territory, 253M’s left hind leg was injured, causing a life-long limp distinguishing him from other wolves.
In the fall of 2002, he left his home territory, typical behavior for wolves of that age. Later that fall, on Nov. 30, 253M was accidentally caught in a trap set for coyotes about 20 miles northeast of Salt Lake City, making him the first confirmed wolf in Utah in more than 70 years. Tracks around the site suggested that he was traveling with another wolf – perhaps they were a pair exploring for a place to begin a new life.
253M was taken back to Wyoming and released three days later by a federal biologist south of Yellowstone Park. He made his way back to the Druid Pack before Christmas, surprising the “experts,” who thought he would immediately head back south.
This second time around, he remained with the Druids for nearly two years and rose to the level of second-ranking male – subordinate only to the now-famous, but aging, 21M. In the summer of 2004, 21M died, and most observers thought that 253M would take over as leader of the Druids. But again, he managed to fool the experts and waged only a minor battle with “New Black,” as the victor and new Druid leader came to be known.
Immediately after New Black assumed his alpha status, 253M broke from the pack and began wandering about Yellowstone, mostly undetected, only to unexpectedly appear on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole – 90 miles south of his birthplace – alone, but looking healthy.
It was in early 2005 that 253M may have fathered his only offspring. He was observed with another male and female, and 5 pups, forming the new Flat Creek Pack. But within a year, 253M again headed south, and the Flat Creek Pack dissolved. The cause of the sudden disintegration of this new pack will never be known. Was 253M simply living up to one of his names, The Wanderer?
Meanwhile, the Daniel Pack, which roamed across a mix of ranching and wild lands 60 miles southeast of Jackson, was implicated in cattle depredations and thus under constant surveillance and control. Sometime in the next year or so, 253M found his way into this persecuted pack.
During his eight years of travel across thousands of miles and at least two states, 253M was never accused of any destruction of human property. He was a “good wolf” – one who adapted to his human-dominated world. The kind of wolf we should be able to live with.
But on the morning of March 28, his luck ran out. Not because of anything he did, but because of what a minority of people in Wyoming wanted – to take all protection off wolves in 88 percent of the state, where anyone can now kill any wolf by any means at any time. 253M and three others were killed for nothing more than being wolves in Wyoming’s politically designated predator zone.
253M and other wolves are now dead in Wyoming because some don’t want wolves in the Equality State.
Now we “Know The Target.” What have we learned?
Franz Camenzind is executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.
This video is a treasure I found by chance, a beautiful narration by Brian Connolly of the life and death of wolf 253M. It is so moving you will be brought to tears.
Limpy was the inspiration for this blog. He was the perfect wolf in my mind’s eye, a member of the iconic Druid Peak Pack, who once ruled Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley.
Brian, I don’t know you but thanks for your beautiful ode to Limpy, who gave pleasure to so many. A wolf, who over came the adversity of injury but was killed for nothing in the name of blood sport.
Rest in peace dear, dear wolf 253M
For the wolves, For Limpy,
Nabeki
Howling For Justice is dedicated to wolf 253.
===
Beloved ‘Wolf 253′ killed in Wyoming
April 2, 2008
John Hollenhorst reporting
One of the nation’s most famous and beloved wolves has been killed. Someone in Wyoming shot him, along with two other wolves, apparently the very day the Bush Administration lifted legal protections.
It’s easy to spot Columbus. He’s not only the biggest and strongest gnu among the dozens grazing on a South African plain, he also sports a golden-hued coat, a stunning contrast to the gray and black gnus around him.
Finding Columbus in the wild would be a stroke of amazing luck. More than 99.9 percent of all wild gnus, also called wildebeest, from the Afrikaans for “wild beast,” have dark coats. But this three-year-old golden bull and his many offspring are not an accident. They have been bred specially for their unusual coloring, which is coveted by big game hunters.
These flaxen creatures are the latest craze in South Africa’s $1 billion ultra-high-end big-game hunting industry. Well-heeled marksmen pay nearly $50,000 to take a shot at a golden gnu — more than 100 times what they…
“Wolves hunting for fish in British Columbia. Photo by Ian McAllister”
I’m mesmerized by the series on coastal wolves of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia. It’s wonderful knowing these genetically diverse, salmon eating wolves have contributed so much to the coastal ecosystem and old growth forests but this treasure must be protected.
Time for an uplifting video of a wolf pack caring for their week old pups. They have their hands full! Momma wolf is fighting a losing battle trying to keep them in the den…lol
Enjoy! ❤
===
Video: Courtesy YouTube greenbunting
Posted in: gray wolf pups, biodiversity
Tags: wolf pups, wolf pack, caring for tiny pups, beautiful wolves
This blog is dedicated to the memory of Wolf 253, the beloved Yellowstone Druid wolf named Limpy, who was shot and killed in March 08, on the very day ESA protections were lifted for the gray wolf, by the then Bush Administration.
Previous Posts
Speak For Wolves – Yellowstone 2015
Petitions To Sign
Protect America's Wolves! Click To Sign Petition
RELIST WOLVES - Click To Sign
STOP THE TORTURE OF WOLVES IN OUR FORESTS - Click To Sign!
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 