Early American Indians and settlers existed together in
harmony with the wolf. Respected as a wise and cunning hunter, many of the wolf's ways were adopted by these pioneers. It wasn't until the white man became a "shepherd", later to be known as the rancher; raising livestock for food instead of hunting wild game, that the wolf became a threat to him, and therefore his enemy.
The inherent nature of the white man is to control that which
he does not understand, otherwise destroy it. As he began to hunt wild game as a sport, this further decreased the wolf's popularity. As a
result, he set out to destroy the wolf and nearly succeeded. As
civilization rapidly progressed, he continued to distance himself
further from the wilderness, while the wolf remained a wild predator.
Today, the wolf represents the symbol of our wilderness, a world which man has long since forgotten. We are just now making the
attempt to protect and preserve the wolf as an endangered species. The future survival of the wolf depends on whether this mystical creature can been seen at last, for what it really is - an exceptionally
interesting part of our wildlife heritage and an outstanding
representative of that wilderness, which we are belatedly trying to
preserve.
One must understand the wolf in the wild to truly appreciate
his inherit right to exist. In their own world, wolves can maybe teach
us to see their species in a new light. Have we waited until it is too
late to learn to understand this mysterious yet highly controversial
animal and give them the acceptance they deserve? Do we dare take a new look at the wolf, to see what is really behind that mask of the myths formed from our own fear of the wilderness, a world yet untamed?
Man is only just beginning to reach a simple knowledge of the
wolf. The secrets remain hidden beneath a veil of misunderstanding. Man does not see the world of the wolf in it's proper perspective and does not know how to come to terms with it. Instead, he believes that we are the masters of creation and he refuses to accept that the animals are the ones who are constantly in touch with the realities by which we live and die. But, the wolf can teach us. With it's uncanny perceptions, and a social structure that closely resembles our own, wolves challenge us to be wise.
We need a wiser and perhaps more mystical concept of wolves.
Man surveys the wolf through the glass of his knowledge, and sees a
feather magnified, and the whole image is distorted. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therin we err. For no animal shall be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.
There are still too many people in this world who hate wolves.
Most would change their minds, if they could share my experience. One must understand the wolf in the wild to truly appreciate the animal. We humans judge wolves by our own standards. However, in their own world, up there in the high arctic where human standards are sparse, this wolf pack can maybe teach us think about their species in a different way. By sharing the life of this pack that I have had the extreme privilege of knowing, I hope I can help other people to see the wolf for what it is:
One more magnificent species, superbly adapted to contend with it's
harsh environment, and highly deserving of our understanding and
acceptance.
L. David Mech
