Rest in Peace, Atka

Posted on September 22, 2018 by Wolf Conservation Center

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It is with deep sorrow that we share news about the most magnificent wolf we have ever known. Atka died in his sleep early this morning; he was 16 years old.

His passing was painless and peaceful with his family surrounding him. While Atka leaves a hole in our lives so big that words can’t describe it, his impact on wolf conservation persists and can not be overstated.

Atka is an Inuit name meaning guardian spirit, and his brilliant spirit lives on in those whose hearts he warmed, minds he opened, and souls he touched.

He instilled compassion, understanding, and awareness to the hundreds of thousands of people he met over his storied career. We will be better and do better because Atka lived. He will empower us to continue the fight to safeguard the wild legacy he leaves behind.

Thank you, Atka. We’ll never stop loving you.

A memorial to celebrate the life of Atka will be announced later this week.

Thank you so much for your support,

Wolf Conservation Center Family

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Red Wolf Ancestry Re-discovered Along American Gulf Coast

Posted on September 19, 2018 by Wolf Conservation Center

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Rediscovering species once thought to be extinct or on the edge of extinction is rare. Red wolves have been extinct along the Gulf Coast region since 1980, with their last populations found in coastal Louisiana and Texas.

In a new paper, researchers report the rediscovery of red wolf ghost alleles in a canid population on Galveston Island, Texas.

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WDFW Guns Down Juvenile Wolf from Helicopter to Protect Cows on Public Lands

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Wolf Conservation Center

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Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has confirmed they killed a juvenile member of the Old Profanity Territory (OPT) pack.

The young wolf, weighing 50 pounds, was spotted and killed from a helicopter on September 16.

The kill order was issued following livestock depredations on public lands.

Beyond being cruel and in violation of the desires of a majority of Americans, lethal action (i.e., killing wolves) is not working.

The OPT wolves reside on land that was once home to the Profanity Peak pack, a family that was obliterated by WDFW officials in 2016. Their goal was to stop livestock attacks in the area despite scientific studies suggesting killing wolves can increase the risk of conflict, rather than a decrease. Two years later, WDFW is killing wolves in the same area.

WDFW has been killing wolves over three consecutive years as a solution, yet depredations on livestock continue.

Is it time for WDFW to listen to science and the desires of the American public and stop killing wolves, state-endangered wolves no less, to benefit the profit margins of a private business?

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