Rami the wolf is out to shed Little Red Riding Hood image
Saturday, 04-Nov-00 12:41:30
Rami the wolf is out to shed Little Red Riding Hood image
By Deborah Medenbach - The Times Herald
Think of wolves - the childhood residue of too many retellings of "Little
Red Riding Hood" leaves an image of a smart, sneaky animal with a taste for
grandmothers.
But yesterday, Ulster County Legislator Vincent Dunn leaned forward
fearlessly to go nose-to-nose with one at Kerhonkson Elementary School. The
amber-eyed gray wolf "Rami" is the ambassador wolf for Mission: Wolf, an
educational and sanctuary organization based in Silver Cliff, Colo.
Dunn's son Troy, a major in the Air Force in Alaska, presents similar
programs in the northwest, which led the legislator to give local school
children a chance to see these beautiful and misunderstood animals up close.
Where 100 years ago there were wolves in every state in the nation, by
1960
populations had been reduced to only 200 wolves isolated in Minnesota. The
last
wolf in New York was killed off 70 years ago.
As wolves are on the top of the food chain and more likely than coyotes
to
snack on livestock, farmers were not sorry to see them go.
Recently, an organization called Defenders of Wildlife has proposed that
wolves be reintroduced into the Adirondacks. State wildlife biologists are
resisting those efforts.
Kent Weber, founder of Mission: Wolf, told the children that introducing
wolves into the Adirondacks would thin the deer population to healthier
levels
and upgrade the overall wildlife health of the region.
Glenn Cole of the state Department of Environmental Conservation Region 3
office in New Paltz disagrees.
"Some experts are concerned that even the Adirondacks aren't big enough
for
a wolf population and (that population) would encroach on agricultural
lands.
We wouldn't even consider bringing them back to the Catskills. It's just too
small," Cole said.
Though it's expected wolves would feed primarily on white-tailed deer and
coyotes, since the Catskill State Park is only a fraction of the size of the
Adirondacks, wolves would likely have an impact on area farms before long.
"It's easier for a wolf to get a heifer instead of a white-tailed deer,"
Cole
said.
Both experts agree that wolves are shy of people and would stay away from
them.
"Wolves don't kill people," said Cole, "But they would prey on livestock
and
pets."
http://www.th-record.com/archive/2000/11/03/dmwolf.htm
Deborah Medenbach