How "Never Cry Wolf"
Made Me a Wolf Advocate
Dear Guardian,
In 1983, Disney produced a film adaptation of Farley Mowat’s book Never Cry Wolf that ordained my fate. The
film is a haunting story of a government biologist sent into the wilderness to
study caribou whose decline, some believed, wolves caused. In the end the movie
confirms that wolves, true to Inuit lore, are not ruthless, savage killers—as
perceived by some—but rather nature's instrument for keeping the caribou strong.
The movie sparked a desire in me to live in the wild and
study wolves. After several summers in Alaska and Canada, I further committed
myself to this course. While in graduate school in Las Cruces, NM, I discovered
the magnificent Greater Gila bioregion of New Mexico and Arizona. Trying to
live my fantasy, I survived many weekends in the backcountry on just
dandelions, cattails and pine needle tea.
I didn't know it then but my burgeoning love of the Gila
put me on a course to fulfill the dream seeded by Farley Mowat and Disney.
While in graduate school dedicated wildlife scientists and conservationists
were reintroducing the Mexican gray wolf to the Greater Gila, a place it once
called home.
Read more...
For the Wild,
|
photo credit: Wolf Conservation Center
25 Stories
to Celebrate Our 25th
As WildEarth Guardians celebrates our 25th
anniversary, on the 25th of this and every month, we intend to honor
our past by sharing stories about the special places, rivers and creatures that
we fight to protect—by and about the people protecting them.
|
