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At the end of a two-day New Mexico symposium,
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Ground RulesTrust was so low between organizers of the Leopold Forum: El Lobo, the audience, and players at the recent wolf symposium held in Las Cruces, New Mexico, that participants received the following instructions in their registration packets on how to behave in public. The Leopold Forum: El Lobo brings together people from diverse perspectives to discuss environmental history and policy, in an effort to illuminate the complex social, ecological, and ethical issues surrounding the reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf. We ask you to respect the diversity of opinion on this issue by following these ground rules for productive conversations: Listen actively to those whose views differ from your own, and avoid quick judgment or blame. Control the urge to argue, counter, and dissuade. Listen with equal respect for everyone, regardless of who they are. Listen for each persons special contribution to a fuller understanding of the issues. Listen with the intent to learn, rather than simply confirm your current thinking. Listen for areas of common ground and agreement. Share air time. Try not to dominate the conversation. Use considerate language. Avoid using labels to characterize others. Focus on issues, not personalities. Acknowledge the insights you gain from others. |
to watch for inaccuracies and ready to step in and clear them up during question and answer periods. All these people needed, I again thought naively, was a good scholar. I knew the ranchers would make a poor showing. Id had enough of them in class to know that doing tedious research is not one of the skills most of them bother to learn. So, as I said earlier, I was here to help.
Stashed in my innocent-looking teachers book bag, I carried copies of research on such things as the children attacked in India by wolves: 80 attacked and only 20 rescued between 1993-95; 76 attacked with 50 fatal from March to October in 1996 (see India Warns Parents sidebar). I also carried famous wolf biologist L. David Mechs 1978 article explaining that wolves completely wiped out the white-tailed deer population in Superior National Forest, in a wilderness area that hunters did not penetrate. I had also dug up numerous scientists who argued against Mechs often-quoted theory that predators harvested mostly the old, lame, and sick. I was loaded for bald-headed bear.
Dr. Mech, senior research scientist for the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, was one of the first speakers. It seemed he had read my mind and showed a real-time video of two Yellowstone wolves quickly killing a
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Wolves from the primary recovery zone (green) in the Apache National Forest will be allowed to range into the secondary recovery zone (pink) which includes the Gila National Forest. If a wolf wanders further, its supposed to be caught and relocated. Wild wolves could roam huge areas of Arizona and New Mexico as well as some hot spots near the Mexican border. Illustration: John Bardwell. |
limping cow elk with a throat bitea perfect and impossible-to-argue-with example of wolves humanely harvesting lame wildlife. Even though the wolves probably caused the lameness too, Mech reaffirmed his stance with a great visual aid. Not only did he unload my bear gun, but with this one swipe he also discredited the following professional PowerPoint presentations that the ranchers had prepared showing calf after calf and cow after cow attacked from the rear, their hams eaten away but often still alive; heifers with sliced vulvas that had healed closed and left them unable to calve. Obviously, the ranchers were lying again. The rear-end, bloody injuries must have been caused from their own mismanagement because we had all just been shown on video that wolves attack by throat bites and kill quickly. No blood. The world authority on wolves just proved it.
As soon as the question and answer period opened after Dr. Mechs talk, someone asked about wolves killing humans. Yes, he acknowledged that in India wolves had killed some children but that investigations had shown that poaching had reduced the wolves prey; livestock was protected there better than children; and mothers were possibly leaving their children unattended because of a government compensation scheme that paid lucratively for children killed by wolves. He said the payment often represented a years wages to the poverty-stricken mothers. Everyone groaned, easily imagining those Indian mothers throwing their children to the wolves for money. Now, if I mentioned the numbers or that in just one instance a task force of over 200 armed forest personnel had been unable to capture the child-lifting wolf for over three months, Id have just been labeled as another shrill voice. So I kept quiet.
At lunch the next day, I somehow managed a spot rubbing elbows at the same table with Dr. Mech. Everyone else at the table was definitely pro-wolf, gushing their admiration of Mechs work. One guy even said that on his personal scale of deities, first there was God, then Jesus Christ, then Dave Mech. My new plan of attack was to quietly appeal to his scientists ethics. So screwing up my courage, in front of the tableful of wolf people, I asked him about his study on wolves that had wiped out the deer herd in Superior National Forest in 1975. He said I was absolutely right. I bravely ventured further, And no hunters were responsible, right? Right, he assured me as well as the group at the table, and added that the deer herd had still not recovered there. So I sat back to observe the reaction to this bomb planted in the wolf peoples midst. Nothing.
Arent wolves interesting animals? Yes, there is so much we dont understand about ecology. Do you still return to Ellesmere Island, Dr. Mech? Oh, how wonderful. Even though he carefully interrupted to explain that the musk oxen and snowshoe hares had also been wiped out there by wolves.
I was stunned back into silence. What good would it do me to remind these people that even Indians and Eskimos trapped and hunted wolves heavily? The facts are either ignored or interpreted to fit the dream world. The rest of the symposium continually reconfirmed my frustrating epiphany that education was not going to work.
One bright spot was an emotional outburst from one of the booted and hatted Apaches now standing at the back of the room. In broken English he said something like Get rid of wolves. We no want wolves. Get rid of them.
A panel of speakers that included his tribal lawyer soon followed his short speech. The lawyer looked like a fairly normal Apache except for his nice lawyer haircut and clothes, his perfect English, and his professional multi-media
India Warns ParentsAn article by Yadvendradev V. Jhala and Dinesh Kumar Sharma, both from the Wildlife Institute of India, which appeared in a 1997 issue of Journal of Wildlife Research listed the following precautions in their extensive article about wolves killing children in India because they said people have not had experience dealing with wolves in several decades. These suggestions may also be helpful to both U.S. campers and rural people. Vulnerable-aged children, according to Indian researchers, are children between the ages of two and 10 who live in areas where huts are scattered and where vegetation can conceal a predator.
In the case of the child-lifting wolf, specific precautionary measures would include: vulnerable-aged children be made to sleep indoors. Where proper housing is not available children should be made to sleep between adults and tethered to the cot. Children should be accompanied by an alert adult while answering toilet calls at night. A flashlight or lantern, some amount of noise and pelting nearby vegetation with stones would be helpful in deterring a predator waiting in ambush. Children should not be allowed to roam unescorted amongst crop fields, tall grass or vegetation, areas likely to provide cover for a wolf. Villages in the affected region should appoint a night watchman or take turns at night watch. The watchman should take rounds of the village with a flashlight and accompanying watchdogs at hourly intervals. He should use firecrackers at irregular intervals to scare off the predating wolf. The majority of child killings that we investigated resulted from neglect on the part of the parents. If these precautionary measures are implemented, the magnitude of the conflict would be severely reduced. n Note: Not all children died when attacked by a wolf in India, of course. The researchers said several survived when the wolf was chased by parents, siblings, or villagers and dogs. One four-year-old boy was dropped when the wolf was chased from two sides by a group of villagers. According to other sources, British officials recorded 624 humans killed by wolves in the same area in 1878, and during the 1980s wolves killed more than 100 people. |
presentation, first showing clearly that the wolves had been released on lands stolen from the tribe by the U.S. government and ending with the same proclamation we had just heardremove the wolvesbut this time calmly and in perfect English. Not as fun but no possibility for misunderstanding. The San Carlos Apaches all raise cattle and probably have more registered cattle brands than the state of Texas. After they had voted and politely asked the U.S. government to remove the wolves, a significant percent of their calf crop has turned up missing.
Their neighbors to the north, the White Mountain Apaches, are still accepting wolvesso far. The officials seemed to be having a difficult time both believing the request and in catching the wolves to remove them. And wasnt it the dang federal government who had the bright idea to send Indians to school, even law school? Disenfranchised, powerless people? Well see.
The lawyer had begun his talk by telling jokes that subtly defended his people and sent a few arrows flying in needed directions. First he told the joke about the white guy who saw a good-looking horse on the reservation and wanted to buy it. The Apache owner refused by saying, Horse no look good.
The white guy insisted that the horse looked great and kept coming back, upping his price. Finally the Apache guy sold the horse. The white guy was soon back, screaming that the horse was blind and the Apache had stolen his money. The Apache guy said, I tol you. Horse no look good.
Then the lawyer asked if wed ever heard of a guy named Custer. We had. So he said that just when Custer was leaving for the battle of the Little Big Horn, he turned to the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) guyhere the lawyer interrupted the joke to explain that the Crows were there too and the BIA guy was there to advise the Crow reservationand said, Dont do anything until I get back. Everyone laughed, even the numerous government employees in attendance.
The rest of the day became a rain of speakers falling on deaf ears. One study on radio-tagged calves found that ranchers were only able to find about one in eight wolf kills. So? A historian discussed Ernest Thompson Setons short fictional story, Lobo: King of the Currumpaw as if it really happened (see Nature Fakers, Range, Spring 2002). So? Another historian sang praises to Canis lupus niger as the red wolf (which is actually Canis rufus meaning red canine, not red wolf because it is half coyote). The red wolf was not even included on the biologists maps as a form of wolf. So? Still another historian said the journal supporting Aldo Leopolds story about shooting the wolf had never been found. So? Highly respected historians constantly parroted Mechs often-quoted statement that there is no record of an unprovoked, nonrabid wolf in North America seriously injuring a person (see Killer Wolves sidebar). So? Several biologists said the wolfs wild prey base in Arizona/New Mexico was depleted. So?
Author David E. Brown admitted up front that he didnt really know anything about wolves but had written his book, The Wolf in the Southwest, based mostly on Roy McBrides information and that McBride probably knew more about the Mexican wolf than any other living human. The next speaker, Peter Siminski from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, agreed. So where was McBride? Nobody knew. I suspected McBride had been scratched from the guest list because, among other things, he documented one wolf that killed 96 steers and yearling heifers on one ranch over an eight-month period and was also killing on other ranches at the timeinformation that also mouldered in my unopened book bag.
The wolf advocates also had some great suggestions: ranchers should radio-collar all of their calves; ranchers should stop baiting wolves with dead livestock so they dont learn to eat livestock; the federal government should pay subsidies to ranchers instead of the benevolent Defenders of Wildlife; and we need a large national park in Arizona similar to Yellowstone.
Wow! My eyes had been opened.
One of the final speakers, Hank Fischer, special projects coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, said he felt like the guy in the movie Groundhog Day who hates his job as a newsman, especially covering Groundhog Day, and has
KILLER WOLVESSince historians seem to be having problems digging up this information, here are a few documented cases of wolves killing and/or injuring humans. Although wolves should not be excessively feared, and wolves that kill humans are very rare, we do need the truth told by someone. Research: Scott, Peter A., et al. Aggressive Behavior by Wolves Toward Humans. Journal of Mammalogy 66.4 (1985): 807-809; Munthe, Kathleen and J. Howard Hutchinson. A Wolf-Human Encounter on Ellesmere Island, Canada Journal of Mammalogy 59.4 (1978): 876-878; McNay, Mark E. Interactions in Alaska and Canada: A Review of the Case History. Wildlife Society Bulletin 30.3 (2002): 831-843. Scientist: Arctic wolf attacks a scientist in Canada (1985Arctic, Vol. 38, 1985). Female Researcher: Three penned wolves had to be killed before rescuers could get to the body of a female wildlife reserve employee that the wolves had killed in their pen (1996The Kingston Wig Standard, Ontario, Canada, April 20). Trapper and Two Indians: An elderly trapper did not return to the post office as promised, so two Indians were sent to find him. All three were killed by wolves (1922 Port Arthur, Ontario newspaper, Dec. 27). Negro Man: Two Negro men were attacked in Kentucky by wolves on the way home from visiting girlfriends. One survived by climbing a tree (1851John James Audubon, Black American Wolf in Quadrupeds of North America). Farmer and Son: A pack of wolves attacked and ate a farmer and his son (1888The Saint Paul Daily Globe, March 8). Eskimo Woman: She was strangled by a wolf as her husband rushed to her assistance (1829John Richardson in Fauna Boreali-Americana). Sick Indians: Not only did wolves come into the Indian camps and eat corpses dead of smallpox, but also attacked, killed, and ate the sick (1770Peter Kalm in Travels in North America). Injured: Several instances of nonfatal, but serious attacks in Canada and Alaska have appeared recently in the news: Algonquin Provincial Park, 1996; Yakutat, Alaska, 2000; Vargas Island, British Columbia, 2002 (The Wolf Society of Great Britain, www.myinternet.co.uk/wsgb/index.htm). Rabies: Of course history is also full of accounts of rabid wolves killing humans, but advocates slip around these records by concentrating on healthy wolves. Since wild wolves cant be vaccinated, why does it seem so comforting to think a wolf must be rabid to attack a human? By insisting the accounts be documented, scientists and advocates are also able to discredit hunters, Indians, Eskimos, and rural people who just remember but dont write the story down or publish it. Guns: Wolf attacks on humans seem to occur mostly in places where the general population is unarmed and/or where wolves are protected. The low number of recent historical encounters within the U.S. borders as compared to India, for instance, are probably due to the fact that during the period of Americas written history almost every citizen went about armed and seldom passed up a chance to shoot at a wolf. Protected animals lose their fear of humans. |
this dream that he must relive Groundhog Day over and over and over and over. But the movie eventually ends happily and the guy even gets the girl. Fischers advice? Keep showing up to these meetings. He said the people left in the room at the end will make the decisions. I figured that the only people whod be left in the room at the end were those who were paid to be theretravel budget, expense account, government vehicle, etc. They might not be awake, but theyd be there.
I left the symposium in a state of depression. I no longer trusted the power of education. I no longer trusted the scientists who seemed to edit their research to support their advocacy. I no longer trusted the historians who didnt seem to know fact from fiction. I no longer trusted my government. Also lurking in my unopened book bag was documentation that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) had sent Predator and Rodent Control (PARC) employees to Mexico to help poison wolves and then as soon as the wind changed direction and they realized they were working themselves out of a job, they hired a trapper to catch the last of those Mexican wolves for the captive breeding program that is now releasing them. As early as 1978documented in my book bagthey had picked out the release sites. I think this game of chess could be called justifying your budget. Now that the wolves are on the ground, breeding like rabbits, depleting wild game and starting to get more serious about livestock, the public winds are about to change again. Plus, the U.S. government sure doesnt want new Apache trouble. Some history lessons maybe they remember.
Someone said FWS announced just five days earlier that they are turning the Mexican wolf recovery program over to Arizona Fish & Game. What a surprise. Im sure the same will soon happen in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. That way the states can be blamed and will have to deal with the public outcry as soon as the wolves are totally out of control. Next step? Call back the feds, of course, so they can play the cavalry riding in to save the day once again. We need some new movies.
As a matter of fact, when I left Las Cruces Id listened to only two speakers I felt I could trust. One was a pretty but very cranky, beleaguered lady rancher representing the Gila Permittees Association. At one point she practically hissed into the microphone that she didnt want any damn subsidies, just the right to protect her own livestock. The other person I felt ranchers might be able to trustremember I said mightwas that dang Apache lawyer. I can see the new movie already: heres Jane Wayne surrounded by the bad guys. Her six-guns are blazin but shes just about out of bullets, probably wondering if she should plant the last one in her own head. Suddenly, theres a cloud of dust on the horizon and up drives a spiffy Apache lawyer in his red BMW. On the skyline loom reinforcementsNorthern Cheyenne, Sioux, Blackfoot, Navajo, Lakota, Paiute, Tohono Oodham, Hidatsa, Comanche, Cherokeeranchers all. Hey, maybe even the dang Crows will get on the right side this time?
Or maybe I just need a drink.
Thirty-five years ago a blue-eyed, much younger, Barney DeGear somehow passed herself off as an Apache and entered a San Carlos all-Indian rodeo in the barrel race. They, of course took her money; she didnt take theirs. This article definitely does not represent any official organizations opinion and was written strictly as one frustrated citizen. She holds a doctorate in environmental literature and teaches at Sul Ross University in Alpine, Texas.
Summer 2003 Contents To Subscribe: Please click here or call 1-800-RANGE-4-U for a special web price Copyright © 1998-2003 RANGE magazine For problems or questions regarding this site, please contact langier@volcano.net or cj@rangemagazine.com last page update: 6.20.03 |
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