AUGUST 2011 NEWSLETTER

micAh

www.wolfeducation.org

Each month we are featuring a different animal in danger of extinction (already on the ES list) or an animal that is scheduled for inclusion to the Endangered Species list. We’ve set up a display table in the Visitor Center with information on the animal of the month and a donation jar. At the end of each month, monies collected will be sent to a non-profit ambassador organization.... Our September and October recipient is:

Species Survival Plan and Reintroduction

In the 1970s, only 14 pure Red Wolves roamed the planet. By 1980, those wolves had been removed from the wild to establish a breeding program to restore the population. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium joined forces with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 1984 to establish a long-term propagation program for the Red Wolf and to include it in a Species Survival Plan (SSP), along with hundreds of other animals. Today more than 30 approved facilities work together as part of the Red Wolf SSP to ensure Red Wolf survival. Since the creation of the breeding program, the population of Red Wolves has increased dramatically, with their numbers now 155 in the SSP and over 100 wolves in the wild.

Extensive statistical analysis of the population and careful attention to the details of managing a very small gene pool has helped to maintain genetic diversity for the wolves. Genome resource banking and assisted reproduction techniques are also being studied and used as tools to help better manage the Red Wolf population.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Red Wolf Conservation Program

One of the most significant aspects of the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan has been the successful management of a reintroduced wolf population to the wild. The goal from the start of the breeding program has been to put the Red Wolf back into its natural habitat. Great care had to be taken to maintain the wolves’ natural instincts and minimize human contact. All the efforts of those involved in the breeding and reintroduction programs proved successful as the first Red Wolves were released to a native habitat at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, NC in 1987. Each reintroduced wolf wore a radio collar so that it could be tracked and studied. A year after the first wolves were reintroduced to the refuge, the first wild wolf pups were born.

Looking Toward the Future

Since that first reintroduction in 1987, many other wolves have successfully bred in the SSP and the wild. The reintroduced wolves continue to survive and breed successfully, helping to bolster the world population to around 250 individual wolves.

Conservation and reintroduction have not only helped to keep the species from extinction, but restore the ecosystems where they once lived. As key predators, Red Wolves (along with all wolves) are an important part of the ecosystem they inhabit. As predators, wolves help to maintain the balance and population of the different species they prey upon.

The Red Wolf Species Survival Plan continues to be an outstanding example of successful zoo-based conservation. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is proud to have helped lead the Red Wolf breeding and reintroduction program. With the future of the Red Wolf still in question, biologists continue to study these amazing animals to help ensure their continued survival.

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Always some excitement at the wolf center! The water truck was parked downhill when it jumped the chalk blocks and tipped over in the red fox enclosure. No one was hurt (fox included of course) and the truck was pulled out by a very big crane.

Na’vi doing Ambassador duties Will and Pam Barber. This is their 6th visit! We have almost met the entire family. They are now part of the CWWC family. We love you Will and Pam!

VIP love

CWWC happily

welcomes two new staff

members to the wolf

pack... Dianne

and Tracy

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How to Coexist With CoyotesAs human populations

have grown and wild lands have been converted to human use, there has been increased pressure on wildlife to adapt or die.Gina Farr,

communications director of Project Coyote, said the coyote is one of the few species that have adapted. And that, she said, has not necessarily been a bad thing.

“Their primary food source is rodents, so they’re beneficial for our urban systems,” Farr said.Coyotes help keep skunk, possum and raccoon populations

under control, which, in turn, helps songbirds thrive. The problems arise when they are encouraged to venture into people’s yards and gardens.“We get into trouble in urban environments when we have

attractants that really shouldn’t be in our yards,” Farr said. The knee-jerk reaction—seeking to have them killed—isn’t

the best solution, Farr said.“[Coyotes] have something called compensatory

reproduction,” Farr said. “Normally, it’s only the alpha male and female in any family group that would reproduce, once a year.” But with coyotes, she said, “Kill the alphas, and the betas will simply take over.”Similarly, taking coyotes from urban environments and

resettling them elsewhere is not an option, according to Farr.“It’s illegal in most states,” she said, “and the animal that’s

been relocated in someone else’s territory doesn’t know where to find food or water. It will try and find its way back, but with all the pressures it experiences, it will probably die within two weeks.”

Coyote sightings are on the rise in our neighborhoods at this time of year: The long daylight hours make the animals more visible, and there is more activity with new cubs needing to be fed. While coyotes can present a threat to small pets that roam outside, pet owners can decrease the risk by following the advice of various city and nonprofit organizations.

Tips and Tools for Keeping Coyotes Wild

Project Coyote, a California-based organization that promotes peaceful coexistence with coyotes, and the Humane Society of the United States offer this advice on how to discourage coyotes from coming into urban areas:

Do not feed coyotes.

Keep your pet on a leash.

Supervise small pets and children, and keep your cats indoors.

If you have dogs that spend time in your fenced yard, you may want to invest in a Coyote Roller, a device that attaches to the top of a fence to stop coyote paws from getting a grip. Also, adding 6 inches of wire mesh to the bottom of your fence should deter coyotes from digging underneath.

Keep garbage, compost and pet food out of reach. Make sure your garbage can lids are on tight, and feed your cats and dogs indoors.

If faced with a coyote, act big and loud — shake a can of pennies, blow a whistle, wave your arms above your head. Such actions will reinforce their fear of humans, which is good for us and them.

Ask your neighbors to follow the above tips, too.

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Get yoursTODAY!

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CHEYENNE -- After years of fighting, the state of Wyoming and the federal government have reached an agreement to remove the state’s roughly 340 wolves from the endan-gered species list and put them under state control.The deal between Wyoming and the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an-nounced today, must now be ratified by the Wyoming Legislature and pass a lengthy federal approval process. Gov. Matt Mead and state officials have also repeatedly touted a con-gressional no-litigation clause that would protect the agreement against lawsuits from environmental groups and others.Under the so-called dual -status

plan, wolves in the northwest part of the state would be protected as tro-phy game, meaning they could only be hunted with a license.In addition, a flex area will be creat-

ed in Sublette and Lincoln counties, in which wolves would be protected only from October 15 until the end of the following February so they can connect with other wolves in Idaho.Unregulated killing of the animals

would be permitted in the rest of the state.Under the plan, Wyoming would

be required to maintain 100 wolves, including 10 breeding pairs, outside Yellowstone National Park. That’s about a third of current wolf num-bers outside Yellowstone, according to Mead.The 60 or so wolves in Yellowstone

and Grand Teton national parks -- which includes five to six breed-ing pairs -- would be delisted but wouldn’t be under state control.In a media release announcing the

deal, Mead said wolves have long preyed on livestock and game animals such as moose and elk in the state.“This is far from the end of this

process, but I think we have come up with something that fits with Wyo-ming’s values and economy,” Mead said in the release. “Wolves are re-

covered in Wyoming; let’s get them off the endangered species list.”Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who

worked out the terms of the agree-ment “in principle” during a meet-ing in Cheyenne last month with Mead and Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe, said in a release that he looks forward to implementing “this responsible management approach guided by science.“The recovery of the gray wolf serves

as a great example of how the Endan-gered Species Act can work to keep imperiled animals from sliding into extinction,” Salazar said in the state-ment. “The agreement we’ve reached with Wyoming recognizes the success

of this iconic species and will ensure the long-term conservation of gray wolves.”Wyoming’s congressional delega-

tion also hailed the agreement.U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, who

last month inserted a no-litigation clause for any Wyoming wolf deal into a still-pending appropriations bill, praised Mead for reaching a deal over an issue that’s been simmering since wolves were re-introduced by the federal government to the state in 1995.“Today marks one more step in the

considerable progress Wyoming has recently made in returning manage-ment of the fully recovered gray wolf to our own state experts,” Lummis said in a media release. “For years, Wyoming has worked in good faith to produce and defend a wolf manage-ment plan. These labors have been difficult and, frankly, haven’t pro-duced results -- until today.”Republican Sens. John Barrasso

and Mike Enzi also lauded the deal, saying it was long overdue.“I am grateful to see movement on

an issue that has limited the state’s ability to address a local problem for so many years,” Enzi said in a release.“After years of unnecessary delay,

it’s good that we are finally seeing progress from Washington on this issue,” Barrasso said in a release.However, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey,

D-Mass., the top-ranking Demo-crat on the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote Salazar today to “express grave concern” about the agreement. The minimum popu-lation standards in the deal would mean 40 percent of Wyoming’s cur-rent estimated wolf population will die, he wrote, and suggested that the agreement was based on politics, not just science.“Science, not politics, should en-

sure the conservation and manage-ment [of] the gray wolves in Wyo-ming, should they be delisted,” Markey wrote in the letter.

Under the wolf management deal

announced Wednesday, August 3, wolves would

be protected year-round in the northwest part of the state, from

just south of Jackson to the western boundary

of the Wind River indian Reservation. Wolves

would also be protected only from Oct. 15 until

march 1 in a “flex area” covering northern

Lincoln county and the far northern part of

Sublette county.

Wyoming and feds

reach deal on delisting

wolves

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SEPTEMBER events & special tours

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

FULL MOON TOUR

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

4PM Feeding Fest

Tour

6PM Walk on the

Wild Side

6PM Walk on the

Wild Side

6PM Walk on the

Wild Side

4PM Walk on the

Wild Side

6PM Walk on the

Wild Side

4PM Walk on the

Wild Side

5PM Walk on the

Wild Side

4PM Walk on the

Wild Side

5PM Walk on the

Wild Side

FEEding FEST TouR : TuESday, WEdnESday, FRiday & SaTuRdayMeet our resident animals during the feeding tour and observe them when they are most active...feeding time! Learn about hunting, howling and hierarchy and communicate with the pack in a group howl! Adults $20 · Children 12 and under $10

Walk on ThE Wild SidE : ThuRSdayS & SundaySWhat could be better than a walk in the beautiful Colorado Mountains with a wolf? Start by walking with a guide through the Center and seeing the wolves, coyote and fox then prepare for a walk with one of our wolves down a dirt forest road. It can be steep in places. It is approximately 1/2 mile. On this tour you will learn about some of the native plants, trees and mountain ranges.$75 per person - Snacks and water will be provided Photos to a CD can be prearranged of your experience for $50.Space is limited to only 8 people ages 15 and older only please. Reservations required. No cancellations May - October

these tours and events are in addition to our regular tours... Winter hours begin Sept. 15th with standard tours at 10am, Noon and 2pm only

RESERVATION

S REQUIRED

FOR ALL TO

URS

AND SPECIA

L EVENTS

719-687-97

42

All tours have limited space

and we have a no-cancellation

policy from May-October.

WINTER

HOURS BEGIN

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GOT MEAT? We can take

your freezer burned

or old meat.

We cAn’T take meat that

is spoiled, seasoned, or

spiced nor fish with bones

cAll us: 719-687-9742

SEPTEMBER 10th, 2011

Please be here by 6:30 pm to check in.

Meet and Greet one of our wolves starts at

7:15 to 7:45 - Tour starts immediately after

and lasts approximately 1 hour.

Wear warm clothes

and good boots.

Bring a camera

and a flashlight.

Cocoa and coffee

will be provided.

ADULTS: $25

KIDS: $15 (8-12 yrs)

No kids under 8

RESERVATIONS REqUIRED

719-687-9742

full moon tour

Visit www.wolfeducation.orgClick on THE SANCTUARY button, then GIFTS & SPONSORSHIPS

Do something UNIQUE and meaningful for yourself or a loved one this upcoming holiday season...

Information presented on this newsletter is considered public information (unless otherwise noted) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credit is requested. Some of the documents in this newsletter may contain live feed references (or pointers) to information created and maintained by other organizations. Please note that CWWC does not control and cannot guarantee the relevance, timeliness, or accuracy of these outside materials.

...conservation education preservation

“We can judge the heart

of a man by his treatment of animals.”

~ Immanual Kant

For current wolf articles and to be a voice

through knowledge

BeCOMe A fAN Of CWWC

www.projectcoyote.org

Mexican Grey Wolveswww.mexicanwolves.org

Natural Resources Defense Councilwww.nrdc.org www.defendersofwildlife.org

WilD EaRth GuaRDiaNswww.wildearthguardians.org

www.aza.org

“An animal’s eyes have the

power to speak a great language.”

~ Martin Buber

working together to make a difference...

NEWSLETTER BY: Melissa Macis | smallspaceorganizer@gmail.com | www.wix.com/missymacis/portfolio

walk on the wild sideOur 1st Walk With A Wolf was so much fun. Our 3 guests were from out of state and made this trip as one of their highlights. We all went up to the new property, walked down the forest road and around the perimeter. We all had a great time especially Micah.