Endangered Enemies
Story by SOPHIE MILLER | Illustration by KEARA MULVIHILL
Predators. The kind of animals which have a knack for striking fear in unsuspecting humans. Wolves terrify children from a young age through stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs.” The stereotypical idea of an aggressive, menacing wolf is what many remember as they grow up.
Diane Gallegos, executive director at Wolf Haven International in Tenino, Washington, works with wolves everyday. She hopes to reduce people’s fear of these creatures through education.
“If we can help inform people about the biology, ecology and behavior of wolves, I think that they’ll learn they don’t need to be afraid, but they do need to respect these animals,” Gallego said.
Kendall, Washington residents cited seeing wolves coming south from British Columbia when wildfires ravaged their habitats during summer 2017.
The apex predator used to be a regular in Western Washington until the appearance of settlers in the 1850s. The gray wolf has since been hunted in defense of livestock and for sport. The gray wolf is currently under protection as an endangered species according to Washington State law and protected through the Federal Endangered Species Act in the Western two-thirds of Washington.
As a protected, endangered species, gray wolves cannot be killed, harmed or harassed under federal law. This has not stopped people, particularly those with livestock, from killing wolves in parts of Washington and the rest of the United States. In December 2017, The Seattle Times reported that state wildlife officials were investigating the shootings of two wolves in northeastern Washington. One wolf carcass was found in Stevens County and the other in Ferry County, located north of Spokane. Both wolves were female.
Wolf sightings in the Western part of the state have been few and far between over recent decades. The gray wolf is an elusive creature and tends to avoid human interaction. Wolves are very afraid of humans and will avoid them on most occasions, Gallego said. She encourages people who do see wolves in the wild to scare them off by clapping and waving hands in the air.
“It’s great to make sure you don’t have a neutral experience with a wolf. We want them to continue to be afraid of people. It’s not hard to chase a wolf off, typically, because they’re pretty neophobic [afraid of new things] and they don’t like being around people,” Gallego said. “We want to keep it that way.”
Wolves are part of the wild and human interaction is not normal for them. Feeding and approaching them can be harmful to the animal and the person.
Wolf attacks on humans are incredibly rare. Only two fatal attacks have occurred in North America since 1950, according to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Although attacks are less common, wolves still cause alarm for many people. This leads some to plot their defense against a potential wolf threat.
A threat to domestic dogs as well as cattle and other livestock, these animals are capable of doing damage to the community. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, three states with some of the largest wolf populations in the U.S., killed 136 head of cattle in 2014. This breaks down to one cow out of every 44,853.
The organization Living with Wolves, argues that hunting wolves to prevent the depredation of livestock is not the best solution. By killing one member of a wolf pack, this can break up the pack, leaving smaller groups of wolves to find their food. The smaller groups are inclined to go after smaller prey including cattle and other livestock and domestic dogs. Traditionally wolves prey on larger mammals such as elk, bison, moose and deer.
“The most enjoyable process of my career has been getting to know, particularly the folks in eastern Washington, who have experienced wolves in their backyards, literally,” Gallegos said. “And being able to work together on some durable solutions because we’ve got a level of trust in one another.”
If there truly are wolves in Kendall, humans and wolves alike will have to find ways to coexist long-term. Alysha Evans, manager of the Wildlife Center at the Whatcom Humane Society, cannot comment on wolves in particular, because there is no confirmed presence in the Whatcom area.
When encountering any wildlife, it is best to give animals space, Evans said.
“They are wild animals, and every wild animal has its own defense tactics, whether that’s cowering, freezing, attacking, using their talons, wings whatever it is,” Evans said.