OCTOBER
2017
Colorado Wolf AND WILDLIFE CENTER
Trump administration denies endangered species protection for 25 species CERTIFIED BY THE
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From walruses to turtles and woodpeckers to toads, the Trump administration Wednesday declined to list 25 species as endangered, noting that extra protection “is not warranted at this time.” Of particular concern to environmental groups is the Pacific walrus, which had been considered a candidate for the list due to the dramatic loss of its Arctic sea ice habitat The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which determines which species can be classified as endangered, reported that it can’t say with certainty that the Pacific walrus is likely to become endangered, despite an extensive loss of Arctic Sea ice due to global warming. “This is a truly dark day for America’s imperiled wildlife,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “You couldn’t ask for a clearer sign that the Trump administration puts corporate profits ahead of protecting endangered species.” However, Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation — Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and U.S. Rep. Don Young — applauded the decision about the walrus. “I welcome this action by the Fish and Wildlife Service, a decision that recognizes the health and sta-
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bility of Alaska’s walrus population and ignores the extreme political pressures often associated with new Endangered Species Act listings,” Young said in a statement. Murkowski said that “their thorough review, driven by the best available data and science, found that the population of Pacific walrus is robust and healthy, and has proven that it can adapt to the changing conditions in the Arctic.” In addition to the Pacific walrus, other species that were denied protection include the Barbour’s map turtle, Bicknell’s thrush, the Big Blue Springs cave crayfish, the Oregon Cascades-California and the Black Hills populations of the black-backed woodpecker, the Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle, Kirtland’s snake and the San Felipe gambusia. Fourteen species of Nevada springsnails did also not qualify for endangered status. These species “are now one step closer to extinction,” Greenwald said. “We’re going to challenge as many of these bogus findings as we can.” “Denying protection for these 25 species despite the imminent threat of climate change and ongoing habitat destruction is typical of the Trump administration’s head-inthe-sand approach,” he added.
Princess May 2003 - October 2017
Once upon a time there was a wolf named Princess who was beautiful, independent, shy, and somewhat of a loner. As time went on, she became more social and interested in several of the wolves at the center who happened to stop in for a visit. The majestic Nikita came by, but unfortunately he was older and did not enjoy her youthful Princess ways. Eventually, other wolves came by to meet the Princess and one by one she asked them to leave because they were not the right fit. Princess was determined not to settle with just anyone you see, she wanted her Prince Charming. One day, a wolf named Nakai lost his mate, Mahka Behr. Darlene thought what if ? Well, she moved Princess into the pen next to Nakai and the connection was immediate. Princess and Nakai would rub the fence with their bodies so they were against each other, kiss through the fence, and just hang out at the fence so they could be near. Princess found her Prince! When the gate opened, the two of them never looked back. Although their time together was brief, they were happy and always hanging together. Nakai and Princess enjoyed all the special visits from the hard working and dedicated volunteers who showered them with special attention. They were indeed a royal pair. Sadly, their time together was too short. Nakai passed away, and once again, Princess was alone. She frequently laid down on the spot he passed away and listened to his wind-chimes ring as he played in the wind above. Although Princess missed him, she was constantly visited by the wonderful volunteers at the center. They would bring her gifts of her favorite treats - liverwurst, stew meat, dried chicken jerky, hotdogs etc. On Oct. 10th, about 2:30 pm, at the age of 14, Princess joined Nakai in wolf heaven. She was surrounded by all her favorite people as we all said good-bye. My name is Kim and I have worked with Princess for the past 11 years. I have watched her blossom from a feisty three year old to a beautiful fun loving gentle sole who loved attention. We spent many hours hanging around, playing hide & seek, and built many a snowmen in the winter snow. Princess was a wonderful wolf who is missed by all. - Kim
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NEWS FROM CENTER for BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Lawsuit Challenges Washington Wolf-killing Protocol
Injunction Sought Against Further Killings After State Nearly Wipes Out Three Packs for One Livestock Owner OLYMPIA, Wash.— Two conservation groups filed a lawsuit recently seeking to stop the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and its director, James Unsworth, from killing any more state-endangered wolves. This suit, filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands, asserts that the agency’s killing of wolves from the Smackout and Sherman packs in northeastern Washington relied upon a faulty protocol and failed to undergo required environmental analysis. The suit was filed in Superior Court of Washington for Thurston County. “We can’t sit by and watch Washington wildlife officials kill more wolves from the state’s small and recovering wolf population,” said Amaroq Weiss, the Center’s West Coast wolf advocate. “Washingtonians overwhelmingly want wolves recovered, not killed. The Department of Fish and Wildlife needs to listen to public opinion and consider the dire environmental costs of killing more wolves.” In June of this year, Fish and Wildlife officials adopted a revised “wolf-livestock interaction protocol” for determining when to kill wolves in response to livestock conflicts. The protocol provided for the state to kill wolves more quickly than in prior years. As the lawsuit notes, the protocol was adopted without any public input or environmental review, in violation of the state’s Environmental Policy and Administrative Procedure Acts. “Reasonable minds can differ on when we should and should not be killing wolves, and whether the killing of the wolves in these two packs was justified, ” said Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands. “But there is no question that we should be fully analyzing the efficacy of these actions, welcoming public and scientific input, and be able to hold the state accountable. This is a state agency spending taxpayer dollars.” The department has since relied on the protocol to order killing of wolves from two packs, with two wolves from the Smackout pack and one wolf from the Sherman pack killed to date. At the time of the Sherman pack kill order, only two wolves could be confirmed as comprising the pack, one of which the department has now killed. The department has temporarily paused killing wolves from both packs, but will resume if there are more livestock losses. Overall, since 2012, the state has killed 18 state-endangered wolves, nearly 16 percent of the state’s current con-
Photo of Smackout pack wolf courtesy Western Wildlife Conservation firmed population of 115 wolves. Fifteen of the wolves killed since 2012 were killed on behalf of the same livestock owner; those kills have now led to the near eradication of three entire wolf packs, including the Profanity Peak pack last year, and the Wedge pack in 2012. The rancher in question has been a vocal opponent of wolf recovery and has historically refused to implement meaningful nonlethal measures designed to protect his livestock from wolves. Washington’s wolves were driven to extinction in the early 1900s by a government-sponsored eradication program on behalf of the livestock industry. The animals began to return from neighboring Idaho and British Columbia in the early 2000s, and their population has grown to 20 confirmed packs as of the end of 2016. But wolf recovery in Washington is still a work in progress. Wolves remain absent from large areas of the state and although the population has been growing, it remains small and vulnerable. Given the continued endangered status of wolves, the state and livestock operators should stick to nonlethal methods as the sole means for reducing loss of livestock to wolves. “We appreciate that many livestock owners already are using nonlethal methods, said Weiss, “since the science shows such methods are more effective anyway.” Plaintiffs are represented in the case by attorneys from the law firm Lane Powell.
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Grandpa John makes new digs for Scarlett and Rhett
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A story dedicated to Princess by Amanda K.
Surgery day! Guess what kind?
A big THANK YOU Fiona! This was her birthday gift to the wolves Fiona Vineyard invited several friends to her birthday party. Instead of having them bring gifts, she asked them to raise money to donate to Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. She and her friends raised $285! Fiona, we appreciate your support for CWWC and wolves so much.
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Any doubt of her royalty was removed as soon as you came into the presence of that white wolf. Even in her old age, nearly crippled by arthritis and in mourning for her lost mate, Princess had an air about her that stilled you. It didn’t provoke pity or empathy, but something much more like awe. Tour guests that caught only glimpses of her could tell there was something special about her, and not just due to the mystery of her situation. I knew her for just over a month and only through very brief snippets when I cleaned her pen. That Tuesday morning I went in for only the third or fourth time, alone, and bade her good morning. She was trying to get to her water which had frozen over during the night, so I broke the thin sheet of ice on top and starting cleaning her pen. She had moved to another bowl of water which had also frozen over, so I did the same, calling her over to come drink. She didn’t seem to want company so I did my work quickly and quietly, but all the time talking softly to her, just in case she changed her mind. As I was about to leave I knelt down and called her over one more time. She turned toward me, then
slowly made her way over. We sat there, she looking off in the distance as I rubbed her neck. Suddenly, as my preoccupied mind quieted and cleared, it hit me - today was the day Princess was going to be put to sleep. It had become a tragic necessity; everyone agreed her quality of life was such that it was time for her to join her mate Nakai instead of living with the pain that was her constant companion. It was not a decision made lightly. A moment after I remembered, I became aware of the morning sun, and the lack of wind, and that it was just the two of us. She sat so still and just let me touch her, soothing both of us, I can’t help but think. She seemed very regal in that moment, and also very kind. She didn’t have to come over and didn’t have to let me say good morning; she barely knew me after all, and she’s a wolf, she does what she wants. But Princess did say good morning and good bye, and in those few moments of quiet calm, I stroked her lovely face as the sun shone on us on the last morning of her life. - Amanda K
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CONSERVATION CORNER
A Jaguar By David Friend with special thanks to Douglas Trent and Vagno Pires from Focus Tours for the experience and education.
I saw my first, and as yet only, wild jag- JAGUAR uar. As hard as I was looking it was Vagno Pires, my boatman, that found him. A huge male. Yes, it was completely apparent that he was a he. I was in Brazil’s Pantanal on the Bracinho River which is a part of the gigantic Paraguay River system. This is what I had come for. I would spend three weeks in Brazil. Not all of it was to be in prime jaguar habitat. My first stop was at the Sanctuary of Caraça. This protected Private Natural Heritage Reserve spans just over 10,000 hectares (over 25,000 acres). It is not only an excellent first encounter with the parrots and parakeets, the coveted blue manakin, and, one of my favorites, the crested oropendola, as well as the many more birds of Brazil but it is a great place to nearly guarantee a close encounter with a maned wolf. There is an old seminary that has been converted into a lovely hotel in the middle of the park. I would MANED WOLF “bird” all day and after dinner sit on the immense stone patio above the garden and wait. The food, a mixture of meat and fruit, was piled in a metal try and placed roughly on the ground. It is that banging and the call of the caterer that serves as the dinner bell. They came. The maned wolf ’s Latin name is Chrysocyon brachyurus. I mention this because it is in this proper name that those of us who have not studied the maned wolf ’s biology can see that it is neither the same species nor in the same genus as Canis lupus, the gray wolf. This is to say that they are not closely related. In fact, the maned wolf is the only species in its genus. However, if we climb this family tree one branch closer to it’s roots we see that they are in the same family, Canidae. This, in turn, is only two giant steps away from the ances-
tor of both the Canidae and the Felidae of which the jaguar is one impressive example. Yes, they feed wild maned wolves. So, you might ask, are they still wild?1 The lobos, as they are often called, come on their own terms. Sometimes keeping spectators waiting and waiting. Although I too spent hours waiting on them it wasn’t because they didn’t arrive early. They did. It is because they CAPYBARA would come and go and come again. It seems they “trained” the priests to feed them by knocking down garbage cans in 1982. In response the priests put out food near the gates. Over time dinner and it’s diners migrated to the top of the steps where I sat, watching. I saw one gorgeous red coat and long, slender legs. Legs built to tower over the tall grasses of the Cerrado, South America’s tropical savanna. Then I saw three. A relatively new family perhaps? Maned wolves don’t usually run in packs and they are territorial. Not many live in Caraça. I noticed one of the three stood apart even when all were close together. They walk like giraffes with the face of a stretched out fox and oversized ears. Their necks, not being quite long enough, forced them to sink down on their front legs to reach the meat. They ate noisily. They’re not tame but often circled and looked back down the steps more concerned about something other than the well behaved humans staring, whispering, and taking pictures all around. Why? I wish I knew. Perhaps it’s the much larger tapir that came to dine a few nights before I arrived. I wonder and am happy they are fed. I looked, but it was only here, on these stone steps that I saw maned wolves in Brazil.
1. You might also ask if it is proper to feed wild animals? Instead of answering this question I will give you some food for thought. You may enjoy reading “Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar” by Marcus Baynes-Rock. You might also gain insight, and possibly become more confused at the same time, by listening to the third episode of the third season of Invisibilia, a program/podcast I heard on NPR, called “Reality.” Here is one link to find the June 8, 2017 episode. Scroll down on this page: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510307/
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When they disappeared into the darkness two went one way and the third another. Yes, they are wild. Leaving Caraça it was apparent that this privately protected oasis is not unique. Brazil is full of federal protection for wild lands. Large companies, if they want to extract resources in Brazil, must also protect large parts of it. Private land owners must preserve large parts of their properties in it’s natural form. Brazil is considered OCELOT a third world country and in many ways CAPYBARA it lags behind such technological powers as the U.S.A., but in this regard Brazil may be leading the way. In the Pantanal I discovered that on most of the Paraguay River it is illegal to deforest anywhere near the river’s edge. What a concept…it is in these corridors that jaguars are free to move from one wilderness to another. The laws are impressive. Enforcement? Needs improvement. “Stop.” I tried not to yell it. Douglas JAGUAR Trent, my guide, was driving. I held the light. We found an ocelot well after dark. I can’t tell you whether it was male or female. I can tell you it was stunning. It’s spotted coat, once so valuable that hundreds of thousands were killed, put it on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Vulnerable List in 1972. They have since recovered and are now considered of Least Concern. Still, that doesn’t make them much easier to see. I was very fortunate. We were near the Pixiam River on the Transpantaneira, a road that cuts through the Pantanal. It’s a 147 km (91 miles) long, dusty, and alluring dead end. That wonderful termination means minimal traffic and less road kill. An important point considering that the only giant anteater I saw while in Brazil was laying flattened and drying out on the side of a road. This part of the Pantanal is mostly private property, ranches/tourist resorts. Before we found that smaller and distant cousin of the jaguar (they are in the same family, Felidae, but part ways on that taxonomic tree immediately there
after) we were stopped by agents of the Secretary of the Environment. Apparently a large ranch had been killing capybara, the largest rodent in the world and a staple of the jaguar, and poisoning their carcasses. That bait killed at least 20 jaguar. Yes, the jaguar is a protected species in Brazil. They knew of my guide’s work in the area. Douglas, among many other projects, promotes conservation by turning old jaguar hunters into profitable ecotourism ventures. He is adamant that it is profit that makes an environmental business sustainable. Fortunately for the jaguar, people will spend a good amount to see and sleep among them ever so comfortably in the lodges. One of the old jaguar hunter turned tour guide outfits Douglas showed me had around 550 visitors in 2015. Douglas informed me that, “this project spawned a number of other Pantaneira owned business, from a couple that rent safari vehicles, to those supplying food, to the training of 8 other English-speaking guides who either have or will have their own business soon.” While visiting we were told that this establishment now sustains over 50 families. This is a far cry from the meager pay they received hunting down and killing jaguar. They would have made over $400,000 in 2015. The jaguar can be big business. Business could be better. The lodges I saw had plenty of rooms available. This is peak tourist season. Anyone that would go to the Serengeti in Tanzania would want to come to the Pantanal. The Amazon is well known but the larger wildlife hides in its jungle. Brazil could do more to promote this rich resource. I was overwhelmed with the amount of species I saw. Still, at least one rancher sees the jaguar as a nuisance…sound familiar? “Onca...” I barely heard Vagno say it. There he was, the jaguar, Panthera onca, the only Panthera in the Western Hemisphere, and I was a kid again. I had been searching for a week and a half. At home while talking to Douglas beforehand, I mentioned that if I saw one jaguar I would
The ocelot’s Latin name is Leopardus pardalis · The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) are in the same family, Caviidae, the South American rodents, and are more closely related to each other than to New York’s Favorite rodent. The capybara, guinea pig, and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) are all in the same order, Rodentia. · Notice that lions (Panthera Leo) and jaguars are in the same genus, Panthera. As are tigers (Panthera tigris), leopards (Panthera pardus), and snow leopards (Panthera uncia).
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consider myself lucky. I had assumed they esting. would be difficult to see. In many parts of This is a place where man and jaguar their habitat they are. Not here, Douglas live side by side. Yes, men have died. assured me. Douglas had guided a film We waved at a man in a passing boat. crew in August. They saw jaguar nearly Douglas informed me that this was the everyday and usually more than once a father of a man that was killed in 2008 day. The capybara population was high and partially eaten by a jaguar. There is a and the jaguars followed suit. It really is cross where he was killed. Until recentone of the best places to see them. All you ly it was left undisturbed out of respect really need is a boat, someone to steer, HOWLER MONKEY for the man and the jaguars that seem to preferably a local guide that knows the prefer that high and dry spot. Someone is river well, and a camera. They are habitbuilding there again. ual, as are most living creatures, and like Attacks are rare. It seems even more rare to rest on familiar river banks so they can than those by bears or cougars of which see what passes by. We just needed to pass I am used to. Douglas knows of four atby. Such was the plan. Something had tacks, two fatal, two survivors. Instead of changed. fear, those that fish respect and watch for The Paraguay and its tributaries flood them. They watch and when Vagno asks the Pantanal. Fortunately for the Panthey steer us towards them. They can see tanal the Paraguay is one of few major what the living jaguars bring. Me and my rivers that has not been dammed. Such money. It hasn’t eliminated poaching, GIANT RIVER OTTER engineering would have a profound detbut the jaguar is doing better than many rimental effect on the Pantanal. So what of it’s feline relatives, but don’t let that CAIMAN is the Pantanal? Think of a much, much lull you. The IUCN lists jaguar as Near larger Everglades landlocked and on steThreatened. roids. An ecosystem that may be relaI read about the jaguar prior to my visit. tively dry in one season but in which the I was surprised how little has been writwater can rise upwards of 5 meters (over ten about them. I found a book by Alan 16 feet) in it’s wettest season. The world’s Rabinowitz, “An Indomitable Beast.” I largest flood plain. It’s this flooding, more didn’t think I’d see, let alone, speak with than anything, that protects the land and this author in the Pantanal. Alan is a biwildlife. This year the waters didn’t rise as ologist and the CEO of Panthera, a nonthey should have. Such is nature. It runs profit and “…the only organization in the like clockwork, that is, until it doesn’t. The water level in world devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s September was unusually and incredibly low. In a normal wild cats.” Alan got his start learning about jaguar in the year the jaguars disappear at the end of October and in No- Pantanal then pioneering jaguar research in Belize. He has vember when the waters are near their minimum. Where studied clouded leopards, asiatic leopards, tigers, and leopthey go...? Where are the jaguars when the flooding comes? ard cats, to name just a few, as well as jaguar. He is a celebAnd what about the cats that were here? Douglas has docu- rity in his sphere and an expert. mented that most jaguar come for only one year after which We were eating lunch when they walked in. I didn’t realhe never sees them again. Brazil is rich for lack of research. ize it. Douglas knew and some knew him. It hit me. This This year they vanished before I got there. Not completely. was Panthera and he was Alan Rabinowitz. We chatted a Other tourists and their frustrated guides caught glimpses. bit about jaguars and wolves. Before they left Alan gave The fishermen did too. There were a lot of fishermen. It’s il- Douglas a gift. A book. That same book. Alan signed it. “To legal to build right on the banks of the river but I saw shack Douglas Trent - Pleased to meet you. You are an incredible after chantey thrown up on deliberately cleared banks. Ap- person who has given his life to conservation. Thank you.” parently some judges have built fishing huts as well so no Look at him. The third largest cat in the world. He is restone is prosecuting. Fortunately there aren’t so many that it ing just above the river in front of me. Here they are bigger ruins the atmosphere and it does reveal something inter- than other jaguar. His spots within spots are called rosettes. | 10 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER
His canines may have been 2.5 inches a rare red squirrel, yes squirrels are rare long, the biggest canines relative to skull here...Douglas, having yet to see one was size of any cat. He had massive and stocky a bit jealous. I also saw giant river otter. supinating forelimbs. A barrel chest. He They can be as long as 5.6 ft. They are may have been near 6 feet long, not inextremely social, playful, and noisy, escluding the tail. When he yawns you can pecially when Douglas and Vagno “talk” see within what is the most powerful bite to them. They are also endangered. The of all cats. Jaguars kill by crushing skulls. jaguar I saw was resting in the heat. PantI am careful to see all of this. I take a good ing to cool down. Watching the river. I look first, then take pictures, then pull my can tell you all about that brief and lazy JABIRU STORK binoculars up, then stare again with namoment. I can’t tell you much more. ked eyes. I take him all in but his eyes are GREAT POTOO There are those that spend a lifetime what impress me most. watching animals. I have stood overlookHis right eye...is it blind? The first wild ing wolves in the famous Lamar Valley of jaguar I had ever seen may have had catYellowstone National Park. Rick McIntyre aracts. was there between them and me. He told I remember seeing lions up close in the me who I was looking at, what happened Serengeti. I made a point to go to the zoo to her, what happened to her mate and soon after my return home. The lions at her pups, and why she was flirting with a the zoo looked fat and pampered comgroup of males associated with her mates pared to their lean African brothers and death. He recited her genealogy. He has sisters. They didn’t have torn lips. They seen wolves resting, hunting, fighting, didn’t have a massive scar running down RINGED KINGFISHER playing, raising their young, killing other their shoulder and back. They weren’t wolves, showing mercy and restraint, culimping. Of course not all wild lions, or rious, irritated, courting, morning, living wild animals in general, show off such and dying. You can read about Rick, one impressive wounds. Many are built powof Yellowstone National Park’s wolf biolerfully. I’ve had little wolf pups head butt ogists, and these wolves in Carl Safina’s me. They don’t seem to feel the blow. I book “Beyond Words.” Have plenty of do. These animal work for a living. That tissue handy. He knows some wolves betbeing said, among the dazzling variety of ter than I know many of my friends. Of wildlife, I did see one capybara with a bit course I don’t follow my friends around of flesh missing on it’s hind end, anothwith pencil and notepad. I don’t narrate er missing part of his lips and cheek on the left side of his their days in voice recorders. I don’t plot their movements face, a caiman and some birds with deformed, possibly, am- on maps and analyze the data to see patterns. Therefore, I putated feet, as well as a completely mauled black howler don’t know them as well. Having seen a jaguar I am grateful monkey nursing his wounds on the trunk of a tree that had and frustrated. We have met, but I don’t know him. fallen into the river. Disease also takes it’s toll. Mange, dis- I doubt that jaguar would care to know me any better. He temper, and parvovirus is well documented in Yellowstone has a job to do whether it be hunting, finding a mate, or, in wolves. Knowing this it wasn’t completely strange for me to this case, resting and cooling himself. I could only get in see a jaguar with eye issues. Neither was it odd to see that he the way. This jaguar was tolerant to a point. When we got a looked very healthy despite. bit too loud he got up as if to leave. We held our collective A three week tour is really just a glimpse. I saw more than breath. I don’t know whether it was acceptance of us, laziI could comprehend. The larger than I realized jabiru stork, ness, or affinity for that patch of ground but he did lay back hyacinth macaws possibly mating, toco toucans everywhere, down. We exhaled ever so quietly and savored the moment a great potoo, a nocturnal bird, resting during the day in when a jaguar allowed us some time in his presence. such a way I would have mistaken it for a branch, a ringed kingfisher to whom I offered my finger, which it grabbed, and while relieving myself a glimpse of what apparently is COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | 11 |
ADOPTION CORNER
ADOPTION CORNER
Available from TCRAS · Teller County Regional Animal Shelter
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tcrascolorado.com · 719.686.7707 · NO-KILL shelter in Divide, Colorado
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4 y 1 m · Male/Neutered Orange/Cream Burmese/Mix Hi. My name is Schmee...you know, like you and schMee forever. Well, enough of that. I am a handsome boy looking for a forever home. I love sunning myself. I am very partial to a warm lap, too. I know my house manners. So, if you are looking for a new family member, please come and let’s meet. | 12 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER
HARLEY QUINN. Energetic chihuahua/pug, 3 years old. Gets along with other dogs. Available in 2 weeks.
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Found: Wolf Puppies Born Outside of Rome for the First Time in Decades The animals are part of the city’s founding mythology. BY SARAH LASKOW · atlasobscura.com
CENTURIES AGO, WOLVES WERE COMMONLY found around Rome, Italy. They’re also part of the city’s founding myth. But over time, hunting reduced their numbers until they were living only in one area, in the mountains of central Italy. In 1971, they received protected status. Since then, the number of wolves in Italy has grown to somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000, and in 2005 wolves were first seen around Rome. Now, for the first time in many years, wolf puppies have been born in the vicinity of city, The Telegraph reports. The two puppies were spotted at a nature reserve not far
from the city’s international airport. The area is protected by a bird conservation group, LIPU, and in 2014 the puppies’ father, Numas, was first seen in the reserve. He and his mate, Aurelia, were also seen together in 2016. Now, their offspring have been captured cavorting in the woods by hidden cameras. Wolves are sometimes seen as a threat to livestock, which is one of the reasons they were hunted to such small numbers. But, according to the conservation group, farmers shouldn’t worry about these wolves. Based on analysis of their feces, they eat only wild boar, which no one likes anyway.
Collared wolf OR-33 shot dead northwest of Klamath Falls By The Associated Press
MEDFORD — A collared gray wolf known as OR-33 was illegally killed in southern Oregon, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking the public to help solve the crime. The agency announced the death recently, saying DNA from a heavily decomposed carcass found this spring was matched to DNA from when OR-33 was collared by wildlife biologists two years ago. The carcass was found northwest of Klamath Falls on the Fremont-Winema National Forest. The Mail Tribune reports the wolf had been blamed for a three-day livestock killing spree east of Ashland in June 2016. OR-33 was blamed for killing two goats, one sheep and injuring a third sheep. “We just recently confirmed it was a wolf, and it was that wolf,” Fish and Wildlife spokesman Brent Lawrence said Wednesday. “We had to know if it was a wolf and a wild wolf, not a captive wolf or a hybrid, before we opened our investigation.” The necropsy determined it died from gunshot wounds, but Lawrence declined to be more specific because the case remains unsolved. It is a violation of the federal Endangered Species Act to kill a gray wolf, which is listed as endangered in the western two-thirds of Oregon. The shooting is also a violation of Oregon wildlife laws. Oregon State Police and the federal service are working together on the investigation, and investigators have offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. OR-33, a cousin of the famous wolf OR-7, dispersed from northeastern Oregon’s Imnaha Pack in 2015, venturing through the Columbia Basin and southern Blue Mountains before heading south and popping up in Klamath and Jackson counties in February 2016. In April’s most recent statewide wolf report, his status was listed as unknown. | 14 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER
On the outskirts of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming’s most conflict-prone areas, wolves are now treated as predators and have been targeted by unregulated gunfire and traps since April, when an appeals court gave the state jurisdiction over the species. In the Yellowstone region’s interior, where wolves are managed trophy game, a hunt started Oct. 1. All told hunters have killed 46 animals, some of which likely could have run into trouble with livestock and been killed for their misdeeds.