Editor:
According to Parks employee Steve Michel, a wolf was seen feeding on a “substantial amount of food. It appears to have been intentionally placed … for baiting wildlife.”
One wolf is capable of gobbling up to 20 pounds of meat within minutes, but this one waited to consume the turkey until a park warden showed up? Why was the same individual observed digging before feeding? According to eyewitnesses, garbage was observed besides the turkey meat. Who did what, where, when and why?
The only undoubted fact is that no charges had been laid. Why not? Wasn’t there enough probable cause on Jan. 5, 2014 for calling in police and starting a purposeful investigation?
Unfortunately, Mr. Michel and Mr. Kevin Van Tighem tend to generalize habituation, adaptation and food conditioning. Wolves can be described as “ecological generalists,” but by no means do they all behave the same. Taxonomically and characterwise (i.e. bold and shy types, head-strong and sociable types) individual wolves show considerable variations in behaviour. Only some of them that were exposed to human presence as pups (habitat imprinting) can later be baited by humans.
Simply unacceptable is the spread of wild speculations and false information: Over a decade ago, park wardens killed a wolf I named Dreamer. He never got “a taste of human food.” He got shot because he defended himself against an unleashed, out of control barking dog.
Mr. Michel and Mr. Van Tighem have been philosophizing a lot about “unethical practices.” Where were their ethical doubts when highly pregnant breeding female Faith and her mate Spirit were chased around by a helicopter in March 2012? Before that, wolf Blizzard was chased by a helicopter and “ethically” radio-collared with a speeding train present.
What about Parks’ signposting the wolves’ densite, unnecessarily exposing them to a lot of people? Or using a baiting station to confront wolves with electro mats/shocks with no veterinarian involved? Is all of this considered to be ethical?
Mr. Van Tighem’s book is full of blame and nothing but a commercialization of wolves. Today he raises concerns for wolves with trusting natures who wander outside park boundaries.
Don’t get me wrong, I would never support an opportunistic behaving photographer. In fact, I don’t even talk to them. Consequently, I often got denounced as not being “sociable.” Ridiculous, considering that some of my best friends are wildlife photographers.
There are many photographers and tourists out there disrespecting and harassing wildlife hundreds of times every day. How many of them exactly were taken to court in 2013? As far as I know: 0.
In plain English: Wildlife harassment and garbage issues are ugly consequences and direct effects of budget cuts and uncontrolled mass tourism. Instead of aggressivly promoting the irresponsible increase of more and more circus-like events (recently called “visitor experiences”), Parks should start investing in carefully thought out brochures for tourists and photopraphers alike with precisely defined rules how to behave among wildlife. Don’t forget an unequivocal penalty list for people who don´t behave.
Guenther Bloch, head of the Canid Behaviour Center Porcupine Hills
