PRESERVING THE WILD WOLF
BY BARBARA (BJ) ANDREWS
W olves signify the last of the remaining wild lands, and a different place and time, for most of us. In TV shows, you see wolves as deni- grated and feared or glorified and noble, but do you really know (or care) about wolves? As a dog owner reading this premier magazine, you know a lot about all canines. But have you ever thought about the wolf ’s place on the planet? Everything from the “lowly” worm to the high-flying eagle has purpose. Creation or evolution, whether dogs came from wolves or from God, we can all agree that the wolf has served mankind by keeping the planet clean. That is why the Idaho governor’s order of wolf extermination, wolf-killing bill S11211, is so significant to you—and especially to your children. Country estate or high-rise dweller, you will probably never see a wolf doing its job. But stop and think about what the wolf and other “pests” and trophy animals mean to the preservation of life on this planet. Wolf is keeping the “balance of nature” as intact as is possible in our increasingly synthetic world. Wolves take down injured or aged animals and with his little brothers, Coyote and Fox, he also cleans up carrion. In keeping the wild spaces clean, canidae serve mankind almost as much as do domestic dogs. In 1931, the Animal Damage Control Act “allowed for the eradication of gray wolves,” and within five years, wolves were virtually extinct in Idaho and much of the northern Rockies. Realizing the damage done to the ecosystem, wolves were reintro- duced to the Lower 48 in 1995. Currently confirmed livestock losses attributed to wolves amount to only “0.00428 percent of the state's livestock.” Put another way, there are “2.73 million cows and sheep” in Idaho and “roughly 1,500 wolves,” which is barely enough to clean up carrion.
130 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2021
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