Wolf Awareness Week
It’s Wolf Awareness Week in the US and I’m ready for it. Originally established by Timber Wolf Alliance in Wisconsin, National Wolf Awareness Week has expanded to promote the true nature of wolves throughout their natural range. Since 1996, every third week of October has been designated National Wolf Awareness Week.
I’ve been living in the world of wolves. I’m working on a new book and have been researching and writing about wolves off and on for months. But this is nothing new. I began working on behalf of wolves when Federal District Court Judge Donald Molloy upheld the 2011 legislation removing ESA protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies, marking the first time Congress legislatively delisted an endangered species.
I was living in Brooklyn when I developed a partnership with the Wolf Conservation Center, just one hour away from New York City. I had been involved as much as I could online — signing petitions, writing letters and posting in the early days of social media — and soon learned there was a Conservation Center not far from the city. I couldn’t believe it. Wolves in New York?!
The Center’s mission is “to protect and preserve wolves in North America through science-based education, advocacy, and participation in the federal recovery and release programs for two critically endangered wolf species— the Mexican gray wolf and the red wolf.” I set up a meeting with the Director, Maggie Howell and waited impatiently to visit. The first thing we did when I arrived was howl to let the wolves know we were there. When they answered, their howls stirred something inside me, and I wanted to cry. I didn’t know it, but my body was so hungry for their voice.
But the enclosures punctured me. I don’t know what I was expecting, it was far from a zoo. Their enclosures were large and wild, and I knew they were in captivity in order to educate humans or, in the case of red wolves and Mexican gray wolves, to be saved and potentially released. Without cages and captive breeding programs, we would have no more red wolves.
Critically Endangered Red Wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center (photo by WCC)
Despite my complicated feelings, my growing partnership with the Wolf Conservation Center gave me a way to work on behalf of wolves, experience a slice of wildness, and to offer that feeling of connection to others. I taught wildcrafting and foraging workshops, sharing nature literacy through the lens of common plants while Regan Downey, Education Director of the WCC taught us about the true nature of wolves. I brought small groups to unplug and camp amongst the 50-or-so wolves. Most of whom were ‘off exhibit’ candidates for release that we couldn’t see but that we felt. And heard. We howled with the wolves, an experience that invigorated a sense of deep connection and at the same time, awakened a hollow place: their absence from the land.
Regan told us the story of the Crystal Creek pack, Rose Creek pack, and the Soda Butte pack, the first wolves to live in Yellowstone Park after a 70-year absence. A success story for the wilderness and adjacent communities that has become a model for predator reintroduction worldwide. A 2014 YouTube video about the Yellowstone wolves, ‘How Wolves Change Rivers’ has been viewed over 44-million times.
Gray Wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center
There is so much I could say and share about wolves but I’ll save it for my talk with Regan Downey, Education Director of the WCC on November 10th. We’ll be doing a live Zoom to raise funds and awareness for wolves and you’re invited. If you can’t make it but have questions, feel free to comment with them below and I’ll be sure to ask her. I’ll share the video on Substack afterward.
Happy Wolf Awareness Week. I hope you’ll celebrate. Defenders Of Wildlife has some great resources if you’re looking for ways to get involved.