Those questions require answers rooted in ethics. Science cannot, however, decide those moral questions about how we ought to live with wolves. Science can help us understand wolves themselves, as well as our anthropogenic impact on wolves. It is a moral conflict over whether we care about the well being of wolves as individuals, packs and a species. The truth is, the controversies over wolf management have little to do with science, and everything to do with ethics. The current controversy over wolf management in the northern Rockies of the U.S. Distorted by the corrupting influence of economic interests and local or state politics, a broad swath of wildlife management approaches wolves as if they were nothing more than an agricultural commodity to be harvested. Wildlife management, however, has lagged substantially behind science and ethics in this respect. An ethical and scientific sea change began in the twentieth century as scientists acknowledged the ecological value of wolves, while ethicists argued for their moral value. Their names were Apache, Atka, and Señora.Īs importantly, wolves highlight the implications of ethics for environmental policy and wildlife management.įor much of history, humans have sought to manage their relationship with wolves by exterminating them. And finally, I came to know several quite well through the Wolf Conservation Centre of New York. I participated in wolf education seminars sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife, all of which had wolves from Mission:Wolf.

I saw more than a handful in my years canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness. We heard them outside the cabin where I grew up. I have been fascinated by wolves since I was a child. Wolves are a signature element of my research, teaching and consulting.

– Teddy Roosevelt, 1927, The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, 305. Wolves are beasts of waste and desolation.

To Catch a Wolf by Lynn Red