On Tuesday in an Alaska Dispatch News article came the news that the last surviving wolf in the renowned Denali Park Toklat Wolf Pack is very likely in her den with pups. As many already know, the rest of the pack over the last several years has been decimated, with wolves being lured out of the park with bait and gunned down or trapped.
Of course there has been an on going effort to get Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotton to close the long, narrow corridor of state land that extends deep into the park (and acts as a death zone for the wolves), and end this absurd and continual killing of Denali’s world class wildlife.
Now that the last male has been shot, the female is completely alone and desperately trying to keep her pups alive. In a “too little too late” move, Cotton wants to help the wolves by sending the pups to a zoo. This is wildlife management?
I challenge the commissioner to conduct an honest survey. I’m absolutely confident that he will find the vast majority of Alaskans want this ongoing killing of park wolves and bears ended.
Unfortunately, like the Board of Game, Cotton seems to care little about the large majority of Alaskans who don’t hunt. Question: How many more of these park wolves and bears acclimated to people are going to be slaughtered before this travesty is corrected?
Sean McGuire
Fairbanks