Forming a coalition to help Canadian Wolves

This article is from Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre in Canada. They are working to protect wolves and educate the public to the value of having wolves in their natural habitat.

I found their website after a chat with my son in Canada. It's a great site with lots of facts about wolves and some great images. I hope you enjoy this article.

Vince De Luca.

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Wolves are an endangered species worldwide, but not in Canada.  The situation here is that wolves are still considered vermin, and have very little protection in many areas of our country.  As a result, hunting is one of the leading causes of wolf mortality in Canada.  Trapping, transportation routes, and habitat loss or fragmentation are also major reasons for the decline in wolf numbers.

Wolves have a bad rap!  They have long been feared and hated, but there is no evidence that they see humans as food, and are less likely to hunt livestock than most of us think.  They are actually a vital part of a healthy ecosystem.

We operate a small interpretive centre about wolves in Golden, British Columbia.  Our two main goals are to change people's attitudes about wolves through education, and to change legislation through letter campaigns and petitions in order to protect a very important predator...

Why protect wolves?  Well, wolves are at the top of the food chain, and when something happens to the balance at the top, it has a "domino effect" on the plants and animals below.  We are seeing the beginning of this domino effect happening right now in the central Rocky Mountains.

Wolf Aspen, Copyright September 2008 - Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

Currently, we are trying to form a "Canadian Wolf Coalition" - a support network of organizations and environmental groups whose combined weight can put pressure on the government to introduce new legislation.  The first item on the agenda is the formation of buffer zones around the National Parks here in the Rockies.

The central Rocky Mountains, which includes Banff National Park (and its 5 million visitors every year!), have seen the numbers of wolves declining since the mid-1990s.  It is well-known that our parks are just not big enough to contain wolves, whose territories can be as large as 3000 square kilometres!

Wolf Moab, Copyright September 2008 - Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

Seven National Parks in the central Rockies (Banff, Yoho, Jasper, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier, Waterton) are currently reviewing their Park Management Strategies, and accepting input from outside organizations. This provides an excellent opportunity to enlarge protected areas for wolves, whose territories extend beyond the boundaries of these parks.

Canada still has one of the healthiest wolf populations in the world. On a global basis, this provides us with a unique and vital conservation opportunity.

Wolf Tuk, Copyright September 2008 - Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

We appreciate David's efforts to raise awareness of endangered and threatened species, and we are pleased to have a voice on his weblog...  Besides, his sketches are fabulous!

Do you want to help?  For more information on the Canadian Wolf Coalition, visit www.canadianwolfcoalition.com, or www.northernlightswildlife.com/bufferzones.html
September 2008 - Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre



Wolf Wiley, Copyright September 2008 - Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

I'd like to thank Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre for allowing us to use their images and for sending us this article.

Vince De Luca
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One of David's most popular drawings is of a grey wolf. And as any of David's collectors will already know it is one of the Sold Out prints which was snapped up by collectors early. Some copies are sometimes made available on the secondary market, but they are in short supply and can achieve several times their original prices.

So for anyone that has never seen David's print before here it is...

 
Grey Wolf by David Dancey-Wood, Copyright Hawksbill Fine Art

It is a stunning image, and it is easy to see why it is so popular.

To check availability of any of David's prints please email me or visit my website.