Rafterman, on 07 March 2012 - 09:32 PM, said:
BigK and Sakari - I'd be interested in your take on the following.
A Monstertalk podcast on the death of Kenton Carnegie (
http://www.skeptic.c...rtalk/11/10/05/) where Dr. Valerius Geist makes some pretty strong claims as to the dangers wolves pose to humans. It has been a few months since I listened to it, but I seem to recall that his argument is that we're not really seeing the true nature of wild wolves at this point in their reintroduction and that it is entirely possible that they will eventually revert to the ways of their predecessors.
Here's a little research piece Dr. Geist did on the topic as well:
http://rliv.com/wolf...enDangerous.pdf
I'm not arguing one way or the other, but you guys are obviously well educated in this area and I'm just interested in your take.
I will try to have you read a few things, I need to dig them up, but I will try to find a start.......As for Dr. Geist, I disagree with that.
Also, as for the Kenton Carnegie incident..... :
The decision, however, was controversial because of the uncertainty surrounding the evidence and the differing interpretations of the evidence by various highly qualified experts. Consequently, the actual cause of death remains the subject of intense debate.
When it comes to Wolves attacking people, no.Not a high danger at all.....This topic will take a long time to get the information out, and to educate people.If you are willing, I am willing to take the time.
You need to study everything about Wolves, how they hunt, what they hunt, their social behavior , their impact on the environment, etc.......My main focus has been more on the people upset about them being back, and saying it is ruining their " hunting of Elk ", etc, etc.....That is a entire debate in itself....And that also takes a lot of studying up.( as in everything, both sides have their websites, and have their " data :"....The hard part is finding out what is true, and what is not.
I will give you a few links to start you off......And this for starters :
Quote
Gray wolves were common in the northern Rocky Mountain states prior to 1870. After bison (Bison
bison), elk (Cervus elaphus), deer (Odocoileus spp.), and other ungulates were decimated by
unregulated hunting and settlement, wolves and other large predators threatened the expanding
livestock industry. By 1930, government predator control programs severely reduced predators and
eliminated wolves from the western U.S.
I can not find any documented data anywhere of Wolves killing Native Americans, or Immigrants that came here....It all stems as said above, once the Wolves started hurting the " livestock industry " they were killed.....Imagine that...........After the re-introduction, they are now being killed again for the same reason, although the Government pays ranchers for any killed livestock from wolves.Also, there are ways to control them without harm, there is a rancher pushing for that.I am trying to find the information on that.....This will take a bit, I am starting my awesome 7 day straight schedule at work.
The Reintroduction
of Gray Wolves to
Yellowstone
National
Park
and
Central
Idaho
http://www.fws.gov/m...lf/EIS_1994.pdf
In North America, no person has ever been killed by a healthy, wild wolf, and attacks are extremely rare. Most wild wolves avoid people, and even people who live in wolf country rarely actually see the animals. In fact, many wolf researchers who have approached wolf dens have found that they were able to do so without being approached by adult wolves.
However, wolf attacks are not unheard of in North America. In the past 25 years, five people have been bitten by wolves in Algonquin park in Ontario, Canada. Two of the more serious attacks happened during the 1990's. The first incident, which occurred in 1996, involved a wolf that bit an 11 year old boy and tried to pull him out of his sleeping bag. In 1998, a wolf grabbed an infant and tossed it before it was driven away. The same wolf had earlier tried to attack a four-year-old girl. In addition, in April, 2000, a six-year-old boy was bitten by a wolf at an Alaskan logging camp, and during the summer of 2000, a camper was bitten by a wolf on Vancouver Island.
All four of these attacks are believed to have been committed by habituated wolves, that is, wolves who had lost their fear of humans. The wolves involved in the Algonquin attacks had been fed and approached by people, and the wolf involved in the Vancouver Island attack had also been fed by people. Some wildlife biologists believe that the behaviour of the wolf involved in the attack on the Alaska boy was consistent with an animal that had been habituated to human food. Wild wolves typically fear people, but wolves who have learned that they can get food by raiding campsites or bothering people may lose their fear of them, and as a result, may begin to behave in an aggressive manner. Wolves who have been repeatedly approached by humans may also begin to lose their fear of them. So, while wolves are generally not dangerous to people, it is important for those who see wolves in the wild to not forget that wolves are no different from any other wild carnivore, and should therefore not be approached or fed.
This phenomenon is, or course, not limited to wolves. Any wild animal that has been fed or repeatedly approached by humans may lose fear of them and become dangerous. It is also important to keep these negative wolf-human encounters within a broader perspective. There are roughly 60 000 wolves in North America and the vast majority of them avoid human contact. Millions of people visit parks and wilderness areas each year that are inhabited by wolves and attacks remain extremely rare.
As said, if there is interest, I can discuss this for months, and would be happy to.Only if there is interest...I have, and do keep myself involved with this in other areas.....
Overall, the greatest threat to wolves is people's fear and misunderstanding about the species. Many fairy tales and myths tend to misrepresent wolves as villainous, dangerous creatures.
A good link to start :
http://www.defenders.../wolf,_gray.php
A few good links :
Edited by Sakari, 07 March 2012 - 11:32 PM.
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