Posts Tagged ‘Wolves’

Nov
10

Coexisting With Wolves: The Riders

Posted by in Carnivores,Coexisting with Wolves,Conservation

Welcome back to our “coexisting with wolves” blog series.  Click HERE if you would like to read the previous posts in this series.

It is understandable for this generation of livestock producers in and around Montana to need some time to adjust to sharing the landscape with wolves, when you consider many of them were taught ranching by their parents during a time when wolves were not there to contend with.   Resolving this conflict is going to require a clear understanding of the rancher’s point of view.  Conflict specialists need to stay neutral and spend some time with the ranchers to find real solutions to this complex issue. 

Another techneque conservationists use to prevent conflict between wolves and humans is to train mounted riders to fend off wolves.  These shepherds on horseback can patrol many square miles of grazing land for livestock producers, and their presence seems to make a difference.  They haze away any wolves near cattle, and help keep the ranchers informed about wolf activity.   Sometimes they are even equipped with a radio receiver to pick up signals from radio collared wolves.

Here is a great clip about “the riders”.

This blog series is written to celebrate our fantastic upcoming  Call of the Wild Speaker Series  event about wolves , coming up on November 12, with renowned wolf expert Dr. Douglas Smith.

November 12th at 4:00 pm Come for a presentation by Dr. Douglas Smith on the Wolves of Yellowstone. 

To purchase tickets and for more information about these events click here

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Nov
03

Wolves and Bears of Yellowstone

Posted by in Carnivores,Conservation,Travel,Uncategorized

And the last time you visited Yellowstone National Park was, when exactly??? Never?

You do know it is just a short flight from Houston? That’s right, Bears, Moose, Wolves, Elk, Bison, Pronghorn, Fox, and a landscape of geothermal wonders and vibrant colors can be reached in only a few hours. It takes you two hours in traffic to drive back and forth to work everyday and you are not willing to fly about 5 hours to see America’s first National Park? Boulderdash! There is also that Old Faithful thing you may have heard about.

We know this because we go twice a year on our Wolves and Bear Expeditions to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and you can travel with us May 22-26, 2012 or September 16-20, 2012.  This is our most popular travel destination and we can only accomodate up to 14 travellers on each date. Link here for travel information and itinerary:http://www.houstonzoo.org/yellowstone/

Have questions? Our travel partners from the Grand Teton Science School’s Wildlife Expedition will be on hand here at the Houston Zoo on both November 11th for our Wine and Wolves event and November 12th at our Call of the Wild Speaker Series event with Dr. Douglas Smith, Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Program http://www.houstonzoo.org/lectureseries/

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Nov
03

Coexisting With Wolves: Guardian animals

Posted by in Coexisting with Wolves,Conservation

Welcome back to this special Call of the Wild Speaker blog series.  If you have missed the previous posts click HERE to read them.

The wolves’ reputation for killing livestock is a real threat to the survival of the species.  Conservationists struggle to make peace with ranchers that have conflicts with wolves.  They try to find non-lethal ways of protecting rancher’s livestock that will have very little impact on the ranchers way of life.  There has to be long term coexistence strategies that all parties can agree on if there is going to be any hope of saving wolves and other carnivores.

Guardian animals have been used all over the world for centuries.  Donkeys and Llamas are sturdy, robust species that possess a strong protective instinct.  Both species have an intense social nature and a natural dislike for canids.  They look for companionship and bond to groups of livestock.  Their mission is to keep the peace, and they will stand between a predator and the herd to defend the herd.  Their protective nature and their natural disdain for dogs make them ideal guardian animals for ranchers with wolf problems.
This is not a cure-all for predator problems, but it is another wonderful non-lethal option for ranchers.  Solutions like this provide hope for a future where wolves and humans can share the landscape in harmony. 

This blog series is written to celebrate our fantastic upcoming  Call of the Wild Speaker Series  events about wolves , coming up on November 11 and 12, with renowned wolf expert Dr. Douglas Smith.

November 11th at 7:00 pm come to our Wolves and Wine event, sip wine, listen to stories from wolf  researcher Dr. Douglas Smith and listen to the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra as they perform Peter and the Wolf.

November 12th at 4:00 pm Come for a presentation by Dr. Douglas Smith on the Wolves of Yellowstone. 

To purchase tickets and for more information about these events click here .

Come back for more of this exciting series.

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Nov
02

Coexisting With Wolves: Raise The Flags

Posted by in Coexisting with Wolves,Endangered Species

Welcome back to this special Call of the Wild Speaker blog series.  If you have missed the previous posts in this series click HERE to read them.

While at a human/wildlife coexistence meeting in Yellowstone 10 years ago, I heard a conservationist refer to rancher’s sheep and cattle as, “field M&M’s” for wolves.  Livestock are a tasty treat for wolves.  Given a choice, I don’t blame the wolves for choosing prey they aren’t as hard to catch. We have to understand that livestock represent profit to ranchers, and we all know that humans don’t take kindly to anything that eats profit.  So, here lies the conflict; ranchers see and feel this “sitting duck” scenario and resort to defending their livestock.

Conservationists have to find ways to teach wolves to ignore the tasty M&M’s.  But, how do you detour an intelligent animal that jumps fences?  On a quest to find solutions to this conflict a Canadian biologist named Marco Musiani, found an answer from a group of people that he felt sure had the longest relationship with wolves in the wild; hunters.
Hunters in Europe found that using a series of fabric flaps or flags on a line hung at a certain height created a “physiological barrier” for wolves.  Marco tested this technique, known as fladry, on captive wolves and found that in most cases they did in fact yield to the barrier.  This was a brilliant discovery.  It is relatively inexpensive and easy to set up, but it has to be maintained.  All of the flags need to be hanging down.  If there are any flags that are flipped up, the barrier will not be effective.  It is also interesting to note that this “physiological barrier” only works with canid species; cougars, bears and other carnivores will go through it. Also coworkers (who tested the technique using M&M’s in my cubical) pushed right through the flags.
This is a truly wonderful, non-lethal solution to wolf conflict issues. In my previous job we used this technique to protect an endangered species we were in the process of recovering on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and it worked very effectively.  Fladry is a great tool for the conservationists’ “tool box” and many ranchers are now using this technique with great success.

Come back and join us for more about the efforts to save America’s most iconic predator.   

This blog series is written to celebrate our fantastic upcoming  Call of the Wild Speaker Series  events about wolves , coming up on November 11 and 12, with renowned wolf expert Dr. Douglas Smith.

November 11th at 7:00 pm come to our Wolves and Wine event, sip wine, listen to stories from wolf  researcher Dr. Douglas Smith and listen to the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra as they perform Peter and the Wolf.

November 12th at 4:00 pm Come for a presentation by Dr. Douglas Smith on the Wolves of Yellowstone. 

To purchase tickets and for more information about these events click here .

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Oct
31

Call of the Wild Speaker Series: Coexisting with Wolves

Posted by in Coexisting with Wolves,Conservation,Field Research,Travel

For those who are lucky enough to go to Yellowstone National Park to see wolves know the thrill of seeing them in their natural environment. I felt honored to watch an Alpha male and a pup dance with a bison on a hillside with a researcher in Yellowstone 10 years ago. We watched as the male with a pup in tow circled around behind the large male bison over and over again. The bison was much too large for the two of them to take, but the researcher suspected the pup was getting a lesson from the adult male. We watched this amazing display for 20 minutes through a spotting scope — it is one of my most cherished wildlife experiences.

 There is something magical about seeing and being in the presence of a wolf, which is probably why the wolf has been such a major character in stories for centuries.  It is amazing to see such a diverse standpoint in story telling over one animal.  Even though some cultures held the wolf in high regard and wrote epics about how brave and loyal a wolf was, unfortunately more often than not the species played the “bad guy”.  As a result of these sinister portrayals conservationists find they need to spend a great deal of time dispelling myths about this social carnivore.

This is the first installment for what will be a blog series, written to celebrate our fantastic upcoming  Call of the Wild Speaker Series  events about wolves , coming up on November 11 and 12, with renowned wolf expert Dr. Douglas Smith. In the series, we will spotlight some of the efforts going on in this country to ensure that this beautiful carnivore will continue share our landscape.

November 11th at 7:00 pm come to our Wolves and Wine event, sip wine, listen to stories from wolf  researcher Dr. Douglas Smith and listen to the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra as they perform Peter and the Wolf.

November 12th at 4:00 pm Come for a presentation by Dr. Douglas Smith on the Wolves of Yellowstone. 

To purchase tickets and for more information about these events click here .

Come back for more in this exciting “Coexisting with Wolves” blog series.

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Nov
04

Yellowstone Calling: New Tour Dates

Posted by in Travel

The Houston Zoo’s initial tour dates for Yellowstone National Park May 17-21, 2011 has sold out so we just added a second set of dates. Join us May 12-16. Participants travel to the best sites in Yellowstone to view grizzly and black bear behavior as they emerge from months of hibernation, and the interaction of wolves and their prey. You’ll enjoy spying bison and elk calves, the magnificent green-up of North America’s “Little Serengeti,” and famed scenic highlights of the world’s first national park. Contact conservation@houstonzoo.org for more information or link to http://www.houstonzoo.org/yellowstone/ for an itinerary.

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Aug
25

Yellowstone Travel Program Now Open!

Posted by in Travel

Travel with the Houston Zoo May 17-21, 2011 to Yellowstone National Park for our Yellowstone Bears and Wolves Discovery Tour.

This trip offers premiere wolf and bear viewing opportunities in the country. This program is a must if you are a bear or wolf enthusiast, or are just curious about large predators. Participants travel to the best sites in Yellowstone to view grizzly and black bear behavior as they emerge from months of hibernation, and the interaction of wolves and their prey. You’ll enjoy spying bison and elk calves, the magnificent green-up of North America’s “Little Serengeti,” and famed scenic highlights of the world’s first national park.

There are few places America you can see 4 or 5 different species of hooved animal mingling together, along with top predators, coyotes, foxes, song birds, multiple  species of  birds of prey, and chirping ground squirrels.

Click the highlighted link above or email conservation@houstonzoo.org for more information. This trip is limited to 12 participants and sold out in 2010.

Bear family. Photo USGS

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