deviant ART

[x]

~Pawnee:iconPawnee:

A wolf of shadows...  

  • Status: Member
  • General Artist
  • Female/Canada
  • Offline for 2h 49m 13s
  • Deviant since Dec 7, 2003, 12:38 PM
  • 284 Deviations
  • 17 Scraps [browse]
  • 1,649 Deviation Comments
  • 224 Deviant Comments
  • 14,523 Pageviews

Denali wolves wearing snares

Journal Entry: Mon Apr 28, 2008, 11:08 AM
Denali wolves wearing snares
ESCAPED: Animals are roaming free with devices caught on necks.

By MARY PEMBERTON
The Associated Press

Published: April 25th, 2008 12:27 AM
Last Modified: April 25th, 2008 08:53 AM

Tourists taking in the beauty of Denali National Park and Preserve could be in for a truly ugly sight -- two wolves with tight snares around their necks.

The wolves were legally trapped this winter on state land outside the park. The two, a large gray wolf and a smaller black one, escaped the traps and returned recently to Denali, their faces and necks swollen from the embedded snares.

The large gray has a neck wound where the snare has cut into the muscle, creating a flap of skin that hangs down. The black wolf's face is so swollen he now resembles a bear.

Snares are normally made of metal cable in the shape of a loop that cinches tighter as the animal tries to pull free. It's not known exactly how they escaped, but the cables could have broken or the wolves could have chewed through them.

Denali is expecting at least 458,000 visitors this year, with many of them arriving in droves beginning in mid-May. Visitors normally board buses that travel the park road in an area where the famed Toklat pack tends to stay. The black wolf is a member of that pack.

"Trapping and snaring are certainly legal outside the park but it needs to be done well," park spokeswoman Kris Fister said Thursday. "We feel it shouldn't have happened."

Gordon Haber, a private wildlife biologist who has studied Denali's wolves for decades, said the black one was a beautiful, glossy-coated wolf, until his face and neck swelled up.

"To see him like this now is just disgusting," Haber said. "People come up here expecting to see wolves in the wild and see this. It is a real shocker, or will be."

The 6 million-acre national park has about 100 wolves in 18 packs.

While no trapping is allowed in the park, it is legal on state lands outside the park. Trappers sell the pelts.

Problems for the wolves arise on the park's northeast boundary. The area is the traditional wintering grounds for caribou, moose and sheep.

Hungry wolves head there in winter.

"They just go right in that area and unbeknownst to them ... the trappers are waiting and they are caught," Haber said.

At least three trap lines were set this winter outside the northeast boundary and outside a no-trapping buffer zone created to afford the wolves greater protection. As many as 19 wolves have been trapped there, including four radio-collared wolves, Haber said.

One of the Toklat wolves wears a radio collar that provides positioning information every morning. Seventeen wolves were in the group when it headed for the prey-rich area beyond the park boundary in February for a few days. Only 10 returned, Haber said.

The black one rejoined the group in March.

"The only one that ever showed up again was the black one with the snare," he said.

Denali park biologists have been wanting to remove the snares but so far they have had no luck. A couple of times biologists have rushed to an area, only to find the wolves gone, said Pat Owen, a park wildlife biologist.

Fister said if visitors see the wolves and ask what's wrong with them, park employees will give them a straight answer, but only if they ask.

"We are not going to put a billboard up or anything," Fister said.

Haber said he last photographed the gray wolf on March 29. The black wolf has not been seen since March 14. Neither wolf is wearing a radio collar.

The park received a report Tuesday that the gray wolf was about seven miles from the park headquarters building along the park road. Again, by the time biologists arrived, all they found were tracks.

Both wolves, despite the snares, look to be in good shape, Owen said.

Haber is concerned about the gross swelling of the black wolf's head and neck. The snare on the other wolf is deep into its neck, he said.

"Just imagine going around with a snare tightly embedded in your neck muscle," he said.

[link]

  • Mood: Artistic
  • Listening to: okami soundtrack
  • Reading: Wolf Totem
  • Watching: Wolves on TV
  • Playing: Zelda Twilight Princess and Okami for WII
  • Eating: chocolate
  • Drinking: coffee

Devious Information

  • Current Age: I`ll never grow up! NEVER!
  • Current Residence: Canada
  • Interests: Wolves, animals, conservation, art and animation
  • Favourite movie: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away,Anything Disney, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmarron, Balto
  • Favourite band or musician: Sarah McLachlan, Byran Adams, The Killers, Lorenna Mckennit, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman
  • Favourite genre of music: Rock or pop/rock, celtic, dance, world
  • Favourite artist: Robert Batemen, Emily Carr, The Group of Seven, Disney and Ghilibi animation
  • Favourite poet or writer: David Clement Davies, Jack London, Garry Kilworth,
  • Favourite photographer: various
  • Favourite style or digital art: Traditional, mixed media, digital, animated/ cartooney,
  • Operating System: ummmm windows?
  • MP3 player of choice: I dunno
  • Shell of choice: conch shell?
  • Wallpaper of choice: wolfie wallpaper
  • Skin of choice: ....
  • Favourite game: Okami, Legend of Zelda: Twilight princess, Super Smash Bros Brawl
  • Favourite gaming platform: Playstation (any), Wii, Xbox 360
  • Favourite cartoon character: Okami, L from Death Note, Balto, Spirit, Bambi
  • Personal Quote: Save wolves! SAVE WOLVES!
  • Tools of the Trade: pencils, pencil crayons, markers, acrylic paints

deviantART Notice

Devious Comments

~Tephra76:iconTephra76: May 12, 2008, 8:46:36 PM
Thanks for the fav :)

--
"Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery" -Calvin, from Calvin & Hobbes

Visit my gallery! :gallery: [link]
~rakura:iconrakura: May 12, 2008, 5:17:36 PM
Thank you for the Fave.

--
-Dances In The Rain as a Celtic Tune Plays-
~PadawanLinea:iconPadawanLinea: May 12, 2008, 9:12:40 AM
Thanx for the fave!

--
“It’s not who I am, but what I do, that defines me.”
“And why do we fall, sir? So that we might learn to pick ourselves up.”
“With great power, comes great responsibility.”
~wildwolf03:iconwildwolf03: May 11, 2008, 7:52:51 PM
Thanks for all of the collection adds!

--
..~* Money can buy a fine dog but only kindness can make his tail wag. *~..
~Albi777:iconAlbi777: May 11, 2008, 10:56:23 AM
thank you for many favs!!
*lemnea:iconlemnea: May 6, 2008, 10:03:40 AM
Thanks a lot for the fav :3
~Caliypsoe:iconCaliypsoe: Apr 29, 2008, 5:18:58 PM
Thanks so much for the favorite! :D

--
"Keep A Weather Eye On The Horizon"
:heart::star::rose::star::heart:
~A call to all, pay heed the squall. And turn your sails toward home~
~hamster-lad:iconhamster-lad: Apr 26, 2008, 1:37:55 AM Mood: Glad
thanks for all the faves!!
~lacusyamato2008:iconlacusyamato2008: Apr 20, 2008, 3:54:26 PM
thank you for the watch :hug:

You do beautiful work! :)

--
Bow to my puppy[link] :worship:
~BaSiA-SiNoPa:iconBaSiA-SiNoPa: Mar 27, 2008, 2:13:48 AM
Thanks for the fave

--
Warning: Artist carries around a large spatula. We don't know why, but we're afraid!!!
*xx-rin:iconxx-rin: Mar 24, 2008, 4:37:12 PM
thank you for the fav ^^
=mceric:iconmceric: Mar 24, 2008, 9:59:18 AM
Thank you so much for :+favlove: :hug:
~Rainfeather:iconRainfeather: Mar 22, 2008, 4:20:56 PM
'SUP, FOO'
-Bellamy-
~BlackHowlingKiller:iconBlackHowlingKiller: Mar 14, 2008, 7:27:18 PM
just LOOOOOVE your avatar, okami rules XP

--
Visit my gallery: [link] plz, and my another gallery too ^^ [link]
*WhisperingWolf:iconWhisperingWolf: Mar 1, 2008, 10:40:37 AM
Thank you so much for the fave on 'Suki'
I really appreciate it =)

It's been a while since I've seen you around! How've you been?

:boing:

--
..:::blackrose:"The sun is sleeping quietly
Once upon a century
Wistful oceans calm and red
Ardent caresses laid to rest":blackrose:::..
.:~*Lyrics by Nightwish*~:.
:frail:
[link]
*t001:icont001: Feb 25, 2008, 7:34:06 PM
Random Deviant Hello :wave:

--
Spread The Love, visit a Random Deviant [link]


"God's the real artist, I just hold the pencil."
*lioncrusher:iconlioncrusher: Feb 23, 2008, 9:38:47 PM
Thanks for the fav! :D

--
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." -- Jimi Hendrix
*Falcolf:iconFalcolf: Jan 9, 2008, 6:06:17 PM Mood: Love
Wow, thanks for the visitation and the :+fav:s! :D

--
Walking on two legs has nothing to do with intelligence. - Lord Kayoss
Mah cafepress ---> [link]
Commission Info ---> [link] :star:
*xx-rin:iconxx-rin: Jan 8, 2008, 1:58:08 PM
thank you for the fav ^^
*Junryou-na-Kokoro:iconJunryou-na-Kokoro: Jan 6, 2008, 5:49:11 PM
Thank you for the faves! *wags tail*

--
"The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack." ~Rudyard Kipling
*hebichan:iconhebichan: Dec 21, 2007, 3:50:30 PM
hey, i have seen you on WQ ^^ that is how i found your dev. lovely work you have here really nice ^^

--
like roleplaying? like wolves? then join blood moon wolf pack!
[link]
*rad-ix:iconrad-ix: Nov 6, 2007, 10:13:52 AM
:) Thanks very much for adding Wolf to your favs!