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This particular Mexican Wolf is not free. In fact, there are few Mexican Wolves that are. They've been on the endangered species list for a number of years now, yet have been, up until very recently, killed here in New Mexico. Of course the agencies prefer to call it "culling" but what it amounts to is killing re-introduced wolves.
Wolves are predators. They are going to eat other animals by their very nature. Man has little tolerance for this. We're the only predators we feel comfortable having around. It's no surprise that when we bring our prey animals into the wolves' territory that they get eaten, yet humans act like this is some sort of offense on humanity.
We're the invaders, not the wolves.
Humans need to stop and think about how the world is in perfect balance. There is an intricate web of life on this planet which we have no right to destroy. We like to say we honor diversity and that we protect endangered species, but in the long run, many humans just want to have things their own way, and if a few animals die, what of it?
Free, wild wolves may become a thing of the past... like many other animals we've driven to extinction or who no longer exist in the wild. NOW is the time to do something about it. Support a local wildlife rescue organization, or reintroduction organization. One good way to do that is to adopt a wild wolf through the World Wildlife Federation, or other reputable program. Other animals need support as well, and you can adopt anything from octopus to tigers to panda on the WWF adopt an animal page. It's not free, but it supports free animals.
I've previously posted about the prejudice we humans have against wolves.
For more information on wolf killing and wolf recovery, I recommend these links:
The Mexico Wolf Recovery Program Environment News Service: Pressure to Kill Wolves Mounting Across the Western USA
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41 comments:
Great post for the free theme. Very important topic. Hope you have a great weekend.
This is a nice picture. It is sad that a lot of these endangered animals cannot roam around their habitat freely. Have a happy weekend.
Though I certainly understand your viewpoint, I'd have to say I disagree on a few points. However, the bottom line is endangered species is certainly an issue of concern.
Write From Karen
I remember the wolves they released in Yellowstone Park and parts of Montana...and the ranchers were all in a tizzy. But, ecologically thinking the wolves have a 'right to be free'!!!
If you haven't visited my 'free photo' drop by ---but wait, visiting hours aren't free by any means. It costs you to surf the 'net! rofl Drop by if you can. I'd love to have you share your comments.
Ideally it should be a world free for all to enjoy, humans and animals.
Nice post. Hope you have a nice weekend.
What a good topic, very apt to the theme, relevant and important too :)
Have a great weekend :)
My PH entries:
Are We Free?
Fly A Kite
good post for the theme
I get your point. It's all a matter of public awareness :)
A great post. We need to help endangered animals. Sara from farmingfriends
very well-thought post. thanks for the visit. :)
Great shot! i have never seen animal like that in my life yet, good choice for the theme. Happy weekend!
FREE RIDE
I think this is a good topic to explore and to carry out.
Great post. I agree. We all need to our part to help the animals.
Very nice idea for the theme - raising awareness is great.
We have invaded nearly all of what's left of many creature's natural habitat and turned it into a concrete jungle. That's a big reason why I'm so fond of The Swamp!
Oh what a great post for the theme.
Happy Weekend.
Beautiful
Very interesting take on the theme, thanks for the links!
What a great topic and wonderful post. I love this photo! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving me a comment! :)
Very good post! Happy hunting.
Greatchoice for this wek's theme. I am not convinced by the need to "cull" wild animals at all. There has been talk about reintroducing the wolf into Scotland but gien the hassle around bringing back teh beaver it will be a long time coming. Happy weekend
I love your article on the wolves! Great for this theme! Thanks for visiting my hunt
What a beautiful animal! And an interesting read.
Interesting -- and probably unique! -- choice of subject matter for this week's Photo Hunt.
Wolves tend to have a bad press because of fairy stories. These days we have trouble with once-wild foxes in some of our cities, and I don't hear too many complaints. How would wolves in the wild be any worse than this? I'd like to know more.
Re: "We're the only predators we feel comfortable having around."
Nonsense. Name one other predator which tolerates other predator species competing for the same food. It is absolutely normal for predators to defend their prey from other predators. Cattle are human food and the human predator is therefore acting just as Mother Nature intended in protecting his food from wolves.
The big problem is that people somehow expect humans to act *un-naturally*, i.e. to not be the predators they really are.
I would like to also point out that the original wolf here in the Mexican wolf program area was the Mogollon wolf, not the Mexican wolf. Mexican wolves are a desert specie that the EPA has, in some twisted logic, decided to place into an area they never inhabited (a high-altitude conifer forest ecology) and call it "reintroduction".
No wonder the program has problems.
Cred...
I at first supposed you didn't read carefully, then I went and checked out your blog, and saw where you are coming from. Of course, I've run into your kind before, which is why I wrote the original wolf post.
One of the differences between humans and other animals is that humans displace other species for convenience, to own property, and out of fear and not just in competition for food.
We bring our prey with us as we travel, unlike most other animals (excluding some insects) and expect other animals which existed in the region before hand to keep their teeth off (a totally unrealistic expectation) We also seem to feel that we have the right to exterminate all species we don't care for in order to claim more land, more food, or more of anything else.
You claim that it's natural for carnivores to not tolerate other carnivores in the same area competing for the same food source, which is true to a point. There are often several animals co-existing in the same area competing for the same food source. If that weren't true, Coyotes, wolves and bobcat wouldn't exist in the same areas for example. Of course each species has their own niche, and that niche overlaps in areas, just as humans' niche may over lap.
Because humans are animals, they have the instinct to protect the food source and structure of their herd. Because we have the intellectual capability and thumbs we get to build gadgets like atomic bombs and high powered rifles to kill off other herds and other animal species. However, we don't always do that out of our best interest, but out of other wants and desires.
For a species with complexity of thought sufficient to carry out extinction, we're singularly nearsighted and egotistical. I'm unsurprised that those who are willing to admit that we are animals for some reason think that we are superior animals who have more right than others to exist.
Those people are generally the same people who also quote survival of the fittest and have no idea what that really means, and that it has no moral value, but is merely a statement of reproductive capacity. If human beings are fit in that sense, it's because they out breed what the planet can support and and continue to displace other species on the planet without any clear understanding of the importance of biodiversity.
Dragonstar... if you haven't yet, check out some of the links in this and my other wolf post. It's an interesting situation, because people get more up in arms over wolves than they do feral dogs, and feral dogs have a tendency to be more destructive (probably because they are less afraid of humans and originated in human environments)
You'd be surprised at the amount of unreasoning hatred leveled at wolves... more than any other carnivore species.
There are some very good web references on the web, but in essence you're correct, the bias against wolves has to do with primitive fears blown all out of proportion over the centuries in our fairy tales and legends.
Re Dorid’s comment “One of the differences between humans and other animals is that humans displace other species for convenience, to own property, and out of fear and not just in competition for food.”
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Dorid. I am curious as to why you think that human behavior, which is certainly unique from that of other species, is unnatural. Did we not evolve on this planet, too? Were humans not subject to the same “laws” of evolution, of biology, etc. as every other species?
In the dispassionate, scientific view of things, if species develop which are more able to survive, that is natural success, not unnatural aberration. All successful species displace other species, for whatever reason - this is why even before humans came along, more species became extinct than survived to be represented today.
I’m sure the species being displaced, if they were able to comment, would consider the displacing species to be unnatural - but only because the behaviors exhibited by the displacing species would be new, never encountered before, and therefore not “normal”. Of course, that is what evolution is all about - the development of new species (with new, different, not “normal” behaviors) that must, by necessity, occupy already occupied niches.
Are all new species which displace other pre-existing ones better? I believe only time can tell, because survival is the simple proof of success. Humans may eventually die out as a failure for the reasons you cite or others, or humans may displace everything on the planet. Whichever it is, it is totally natural. There are no values associated with nature or within nature - things just are. Problems begin when people hold humanity as distinct and outside of nature. In the big picture, I think it is useless for we humans to make value judgments about our own behavior with respect to our place in nature. In particular, I think it is a mistake to conclude that having developed desires that never existed before - like convenience and the concept of property ownership - is somehow bad. I believe it’s not bad, it’s just a new evolutionary development.
This is a wonderful educational post about how wolves are endangered. Great idea for the theme.
Cred-
I certainly don't think we're "unnatural" in any sense, except that we've created situations leading to our own destruction... something other species don't do.
As species capable of reasoning, I believe it behooves us not to behave in a manner that excludes the acceptance of other species, some level of peaceful co-existence, and what others might call moral behavior.
If we're smart enough to build bombs and rifles, we are also smart enough to be responsible for their use and the consequences.
Ultimately, it's to man's benefit that we care for the earth. If there is anything "unnatural" about humanity, it's his propensity for self destruction. Perhaps in that way nature does balance things out in the end.
Historically there have always been mass extinctions. Let's face it, so far big lizards with brains the size of walnuts have had a better run than we have, and with current environmental and social situations as they are, than we're likely to have.
I believe, however, that you are using the excuse that man is an animal, and a killer, to justify his destruction. Man is also reasoning, and entirely capable of turning his mind to more constructive things. We've seen people who want to change, who want to be environmentally aware and conscious of the impact we have on other living things, as well as people who still have the primitive hunt/kill/take mentality. We're at a stage in our evolution where we can move beyond hunt/kill/take, and the capacity to choose whether or not to do that.
What is natural among animals has always been behaviors that involve the best interest of the pack or the species. Not behaving in the best interest of the species can lead to two things: Extinction of the non-altruistic sub-group or extinction of the species.
Very interesting post and interpretation of "free" !
wow! you have a very nice picture and I love the way you put consistency of the picture, indeed that is a great post for this week theme! keep it up!!!
check mine:
PhotoHunt-1
PhotoHunt-2
Have a great Weekend!!!
What an interesting photo and post. We are so cavalier with the wildlife aren't we? Thanks for the visit.
Terrific post. It is sad that so many animals are on the endangered species list. :(
This is an interesting and great post for the theme. I see the wolf as a predator and felt that it is natural for man to kill it but now I have a different perspective. Thanks.
Thank you for posting this topic. Needs to be said more often.
very nice post and photo! It is a sad thing. I saw a few in Alaska.... they were being monitored because they too are endangered there in Alaska. They are protected from Hunters in the park, but unfortunately the wolf's territory is vast and the hunters get to them outside the limits of the park! SO SAD
Very interesting and educational post.
sweetagring.com
I admire your passion to help conserve wildlife. Great entry. I hope that there is a good future for those wolves and all endangered species.
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