How could we resist the invitation to join Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care for its weekly Wildlife Wednesday? The intriguing topic, Wolves: True Facts and Their Importance to the Ecosystem.
LTWC gives mother nature a helping hand by raising and rehabilitating orphaned and injured wildlife so they may be released back to the wild. The 27-acre site includes a state-of-the-art animal care facility as well as sophisticated enclosures, allowing them to care for, and successfully release, more injured and orphaned animals.The very informative presenter, Oliver Starr, is a nationally recognized wolf and wild-lands advocate and activist. He certainly shared his expertise on (and love of) wild canids.He told the inspiring story about a wolf, tagged as OR-7, who, in 2011. traveled over 4,500 miles making his way from Oregon into California as a lone wolf looking for a mate.
When he stepped foot into California, he was the first wild wolf in our state since 1924. OR-7, nicknamed Journey, traveled back into Oregon, found a mate, and started the Rogue family group.
He and his mate had five litters between 2014 and 2018. Journey and his mate paved the way for a population of wild wolves in California. Which is a good thing. These indigenous creatures belong here.
We were surprised by many of the facts Oliver shared. One being the scarcity of wolves. There are likely fewer than 7,000 gray wolves left in the entire lower 48 states. The gray wolf's long-term survival is at stake. It has barely begun to recover from being endangered, and is still absent from significant portions of its former range, where substantial suitable habitat remains. A growing body of scientific literature shows that top predators, like the wolf, play critical roles in maintaining a diversity of other wildlife species.The main reason wolves are killed is ranchers' belief that wolves attack livestock. Wolves are responsible for less than two tenths of a percent (.2%) of cattle depredations. 94% of losses are due to non-predator related causes, such as respiratory disease, digestive problems, weather, calving problems, etc. Even dogs, which are listed as cattle predators, killed almost three times as many cows as wolves did.He also spoke of coyotes. I love that they mate for life. I also learned that their middle of the night cries aren't indicating a kill but happens for one of three reasons: 1. announcing the packs' presence; 2. deterring approaching animals; 3. communicating with others. Cool, right? Sadly, these beautiful animals are misunderstood and are killed at the rate of 1 per minute (½ million per year).All that we learned tonight can't begin to be shared here. BUT we walked away feeling very informed with a greater appreciation of these amazing canids.
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