Protect the Denali Park Wolves!

Packs of Denali National Park and Preserve wolves need protection against hunting and trapping when they stray outside park boundaries.an emergency order to restore a no-trapping and no hunting buffer zone.

Hunting and trapping in the area is set to reopen Nov. 1.
The killing of wolves outside the park is having a harmful effect, according to the petition by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, the Alaska Center for the Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, National Parks Conservation Association and six individuals.
The board in recent years under a policy of increasing moose and caribou populations has authorized the systematic killing of hundreds of wolves, plus black bears and even grizzly bears.
The pack this summer had no new pups, abandoned its historic den site in the park and may have disintegrated, according to the groups
A spring survey estimated the park wolf population at 70 animals in nine packs, one of the lowest counts in 20 years.

We now know (personal communication with Denali National Park staff, July and August, 2012) that the snaring of the one breeding female wolf from the Grant Creek pack – the most often viewed wolf pack in Denali National Park – on state lands just outside the park boundary in April 2012, resulted in the following significant and unforeseen impacts:

1. The Grant Creek pack had no pups this year. The snared female, which had been observed nursing pups last year, was evidently the only remaining breeding female in the pack (another breeding female from the pack was found dead due to natural causes this spring). Thus, her loss resulted in no reproduction at all for the pack this year;

2. With no pups to attend and care for, the pack abandoned its historic den site (the Murie den), which was close to the park road and had provided increased opportunity for viewing by park visitors. The pack temporarily occupied the den site for a few weeks in May and June, but with no pups to keep them there, they abandoned the site in July.

3. Some members of the Grant Creek pack have dispersed south of the Alaska Range, and the pack seems to have lost much of its former social cohesion. The long-term fate of the pack is unknown at this time, but it may have disintegrated permanently.

4. Visitor viewing of wolves in Denali National Park was significantly decreased in summer 2012 compared to previous years, due in part to the above three impacts of the take on state lands just outside the park boundary. This reduced visitor experience may result in direct economic loss to Alaska in future years.
In Conclusion, No More Trapping or Hunting to Harm the Wolves of the Denali, Protect them!