Blog post #8 Grey wolves
The species that I decided to look at was the grey wolf. I chose this species primarily because there is so much controversy around the animals at the moment and also because they are one of my favorite animals, that are slowly but surly making a come back in Washington State. I also wanted to look into this because we are beginning to see more wolves in Washington after them being close to extinct in the state after 1978, but there is constant talk about killing an entire pack of wolves due to them attacking livestock.
The grey wolf is typically found in the Northern and Southern Cascades, and in parts of Eastern Washington as well, usually located in more forested areas. Wolves are one of the top predators in Washington state, Deer, moose, beavers, rabbits, and other small animals make up a wolves diet. However, due to the destruction of their habitats wolves have begun to make their ways out of the woods down to farms, causing trouble by attacking livestock.
The biggest threat against the wolf population in Washington State at the moment is humans. This is because they are destroying habitats, flushing the wolves out and killing the packs before they reach livestock. in the end of 2016, it was made known that "there are only 19 wolf packs in Washington state, a total of 115 wolves, 20 of which are included in the 10 breeding pairs left."(WAFWO). Wolves typically have a life span of only 3-6 years, and more often than not pups are hardly making it to see a year old. with humans being the biggest threats to wolves and their life span being so short, they are in serious trouble.
The largest efforts to protect the grey wolves comes from the WDFW, who put an act together called "Wolf Conservation and Management Plan". This helps insure that the population of wolves will recover but they will also be relocated in areas where livestock will not be at high risk, reducing the shooting, and killing of the animals.
After having the privilege to go to the Seacrest wolf preserve, a little place located in Florida where you get let into a sanctuary and get to be hands on with wolves and learn about them, they stole my heart completely. I think that they are incredibly beautiful, intelligent animals that got handed the short end of the stick in life. I want to be able to see them come off of the endangered list after being held on it since the 70's.
Resources:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01502/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/washington-state-kill-pack-endangered-gray-wolves/story?id=41610707
https://www.fws.gov/wafwo/articles.cfm?id=149489625
The grey wolf is typically found in the Northern and Southern Cascades, and in parts of Eastern Washington as well, usually located in more forested areas. Wolves are one of the top predators in Washington state, Deer, moose, beavers, rabbits, and other small animals make up a wolves diet. However, due to the destruction of their habitats wolves have begun to make their ways out of the woods down to farms, causing trouble by attacking livestock.
The biggest threat against the wolf population in Washington State at the moment is humans. This is because they are destroying habitats, flushing the wolves out and killing the packs before they reach livestock. in the end of 2016, it was made known that "there are only 19 wolf packs in Washington state, a total of 115 wolves, 20 of which are included in the 10 breeding pairs left."(WAFWO). Wolves typically have a life span of only 3-6 years, and more often than not pups are hardly making it to see a year old. with humans being the biggest threats to wolves and their life span being so short, they are in serious trouble.
The largest efforts to protect the grey wolves comes from the WDFW, who put an act together called "Wolf Conservation and Management Plan". This helps insure that the population of wolves will recover but they will also be relocated in areas where livestock will not be at high risk, reducing the shooting, and killing of the animals.
After having the privilege to go to the Seacrest wolf preserve, a little place located in Florida where you get let into a sanctuary and get to be hands on with wolves and learn about them, they stole my heart completely. I think that they are incredibly beautiful, intelligent animals that got handed the short end of the stick in life. I want to be able to see them come off of the endangered list after being held on it since the 70's.
Resources:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01502/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/washington-state-kill-pack-endangered-gray-wolves/story?id=41610707
https://www.fws.gov/wafwo/articles.cfm?id=149489625
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