Southeast Alaskan Wolves One Step Closer to ESA Protections

​worldanimalnews.com/rare-southeast-alaska-wolf-is-one-step-closer-to-endangered-species-protection-after-being-threatened-by-forest-clearcutting-trapping/

The Southeast Alaska wolf is one step closer to being issued necessary protections under the Endangered Species Act. The US Fish & Wildlife recently announced that the Alexander Archipelago wolves of Southeast Alaska are under a one year review to determine whether ESA protections are warranted after a July 2020 petition from activist / conservation groups requested that the wolves be protected. These wolves currently face the possibility of extinction due to logging, illegal & legal hunting / trapping, road development through their habitat, and loss of genetic diversity.

Endangered Species Act protections are vital in preventing eventual extinction. Once listed, resources are funneled into their protection which would alleviate some of the perils they are currently facing. Logging in their habitat would likely be halted along with legal trapping / hunting being banned whilst the wolves are protected. It is imperative that we ban the trapping / hunting of these beautiful wolves, especially after reports state that half of the wolves in one particular population were lost to hunting. Federal protections would cease legal hunting and funnel resources into tackling illegal hunting as well. 

Wolves are incredibly vital to their ecosystem / habitat and are responsible for maintaining the natural balance. Predatory animals like wolves are often the targets of hunters but the risks associated with decimating predatory animals is rarely reviewed. When we remove predatory animals, herbivorous prey animals become abundant, which inevitably has disastrous outcomes on the ecosystem. This leads to culls which are often conducted when government organizations determine that there are too many of a species for an ecosystem to responsibly manage. The cycle of slaughter is perpetual and won't stop after we've pushed predatory animals like wolves to extinction.

Our relationship with wolves specifically must change. When grey wolves were foolishly removed from the ESA by the Trump administration in January of this year, it was only a few months before individual states allowed for grey wolves to be slaughtered by the thousands. By allowing the slaughter of grey wolves to such a degree, these states effectively worked against almost 45 years of tireless conservation efforts to rehabilitate the species. How quickly humanity eagerly slaughtered grey wolves is proof that our relationship with wolves is skewed and needs to change if wolves have any chance of survival. ESA protections are not forever and if the story of grey wolves is any indication of what's to come, the Alexander Archipelago wolves will find themselves in peril once again after the protections are lifted.

Wolves are important and deserve their existence as much as any other species. It is imperative that the US Fish & Wildlife Services issues necessary protections to them before they go extinct. Learn more through the link at the top of this post.

HAPPY VEG