The Company of Wolves (2011)
“They are not listed as endangered or threatened, as they are in the lower forty-eight states, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials believe they are increasing and expanding their range. They have traditionally been exploited by trappers and hunters, who in the 1980s were trapping and shooting about a thousand a year for their skins—which are used as rugs or as trim on parkas—or purely for excitement. Until 1989, there was no limit to the number of wolves a hunter could take, and som...e hunters killed twenty or more a year. The department has encouraged the take, on the general principle that wolves compete with humans for game.
The idea that wolves must be removed to make way for human hunters has long been gospel in Alaska. To some degree, it reflects the experience of hunters and trappers. In the early twentieth century, canine diseases such as rabies and distemper, probably brought to Alaska by the first dog teams, apparently decimated the wolf packs. In the absence of wolves, moose moved into areas of western Alaska and the Brooks Range where native languages had no words for moose.MoreLess
The idea that wolves must be removed to make way for human hunters has long been gospel in Alaska. To some degree, it reflects the experience of hunters and trappers. In the early twentieth century, canine diseases such as rabies and distemper, probably brought to Alaska by the first dog teams, apparently decimated the wolf packs. In the absence of wolves, moose moved into areas of western Alaska and the Brooks Range where native languages had no words for moose.MoreLess
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