•  Save The Yellowstone Wolves

•  Minnesota Wolves Need Your Help

•  Save The Wolf - Let Your Voice Be Heard

•  Wolf Dog Coalition Needs Your Help

•  Wolves Need You Now More Than Ever

•  The Coming of the Wolf

•  Wolf Recovery in California

•  Why We Need Wolves In Yellowstone

•  Appeal of Wolf Removal Rescheduled

•  Gray Wolf Recovery Status Report

•  Public Comment Meetings & Open Houses

•  Wolf Defenders Appeal

•  U.S. District Court: Wolves In Yellowstone

•  Yellowstone Wolves Reintroduction Updates

•  Yellowstone Wolf News

•  Native Americans Enter Wolf Controversy

•  Return of the Wolf - Articles

•  Yellowstone Wolf Decision

•  Synopsis of Judge Downes' Wolf Ruling

•  Wolf Issues Report

•  Restoration & Long-Term Recovery

•  Wolves Still in Peril

  Understanding the Wolf

           The Human Civilization is a force beyond what nature could have ever conceived. It is relentless and unforgiving and cares not what it destroys through its self-acclaimed dominance to justify the reasoning behind progress.
           What is the purpose for all the progress? It was thought, at one time, that new discoveries through progress would enhance the quality of life and lessen the hardships of humankind's survival on this planet. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. While following a destructive course to enhance the human quality of life all other life suffered and it suffered to the point of complete elimination. Many forms of life no longer exist because of human progress. Someday, hopefully very soon, humans must wake up to the fact and the truth that if they continue on such a course not only will there be nothing left to destroy but they too will no longer exist.
           Time is very short. Of all the things that no longer exist - they will never return. The balance of nature must be cared for by responsible stewards who understand that they too are a very important part of its mysterious workings. No human has the right to offset the laws of the universe or this planet. The arguments between the so-called environmentalists and the corporate complex is like a child arguing with their mother. The earth is our mother...would you rape your own mother or anyone elses? The animals are our brothers and sisters...we are all animals...would you kill your own family? Every thing on this planet is a part of us as we are a part of them...the more we abuse it the more we lose it.

        What sort of animal is the wolf that it should rouse such emotions in human beings and set free such energies directed at its destruction? For thousands of years it has been hunted down in almost unparalleled fashion, and it still crops up as a ferocious beast, the very symbol and embodiment of evil, in countless fairy tales, sagas, and proverbs, and in recent times also in films, novels, and travel stories. There is hardly a Russian winter-night's tale that does not include the howling of wolves, and hardly a story from the forests of Canada or Alaska without an attack by a wolf followed by its inevitable killing by the hero.

        The Laplanders of Scandinavia equate the wolf with the devil, while North American Indians talk of it as their brother. In Western mythology the wolf is not always wholly evil, but is also a symbol of motherliness, love, and self-sacrifice, as in the legend of Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome. There are Indian legends about so-called "wolf children," allegedly reared by a she-wolf.

        In the competition between man and wolf the complete annihilation of the weaker party seems inevitable. What was once the most widespread of all mammals is now confined to a small portion of its original territory, and here too its persecution continues. Even in areas where it has long since been exterminated the idea of its "crimes," its alleged bloodthirstiness and dangerousness, survives; and, when it appears, all these prejudices are quickly revived.

        Firm conclusions from studies at the Institute for the Study of Domestic Animals of the University of Kiel in Zürich revealed that on the basis of a large number of skull measurements and examinations of the size and structure of the brain, blood factors, and number of types of chromosomes that all dogs, whether Pekinese, bulldogs, or Alsatians, were descended solely from the wolf and not, as has often been assumed, from the wolf and the jackal.

        Domestication is a "process of genetic change in an originally wild population of animals and plants when these have been kept genetically isolated from the wild form for many generations in favorable breeding conditions for the use of man." Thus the taming of a single wild animal does not amount to domestication. Many generations of training are required for this. The domesticated wolf is the dog.

(The above paragraphs are extracted from: "The Wolf, A Species In Danger - by: German Zoologist Erik Ziman / Published by: Delacorte Press - New York © 1981 All Rights Reserved / ISBN 0-440-09619-7).

        We would also like to offer our readers this other fine work for their continued learning and understanding of the Wolf:
"In Praise of Wolves" by R.D.Lawrence.
Published by: Henry Holt and Company
© 1986 / ISBN 0-03-001597-9

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• The Wolf is an endangered species in the lower 48 states.

• The scientific name for the gray wolf is: Canus Lupus

• The wolf's closet relative, the dog, is a domesticated wolf.

• The track of an adult wolf can measure more than five inches across.

• A wolf pack is a family group, consisting of parents and their offspring.

• Wolves are excellent swimmers.

• A wolf can run 35 to 40 mph for long distances.

• Wolves have no natural enemies - with the exception of humans.

• Most wolves are primarily grey in color, which is why the common name for the species is gray wolf.

• The wolf's life span in the wild is about eight years.

• Adult wolves can weigh as much as 135 pounds, depending on where they live.

• A medium-sized wolf stands 39 inches high at the shoulder.

• Wolves' fur ranges in color from almost pure white to shades of blonde, gray, brown and black - even among related pack members.

• The wolf's sense of sound is highly developed; it can hear well beyond the range of many other creatures including humans.

• Wolves have distinct and individual personalities.

• A wolf pack's territory covers a large area - from 30 to 800 square miles on the average, sometimes even more.