The Cruelty of Trapping
by Dan King
I had read in the newspaper of a wolf that had been caught in a snare trap and freed itself near Denali Park. State biologists had darted the wolf and removed the snare and let it be. I drove to Denali Park in hopes of finding wolves, but never expecting to see the wolf of the article. There were two wolves that came out, the first, a healthy female, the second, a slow moving wolf, that I could tell was in discomfort. As they approached, my heart ached to see that this was the wolf that was trapped, he was very lucky to even be alive. Wolves are hated in Alaska by most, so my opinion runs contrary to those who think they are the scourge of wildlife. The Alaska Board of Game has declared war on not only wolves, but also the bears of Alaska. In the past five years, well over 1000 wolves have been slaughtered, in the past two weeks, State biologists killed 89 bears in one "Management" area. The Alaska Board of Game is conducting "Predator Control" in an effort to boost the population of Caribou and Moose. What they also have done is liberalized the hunting season for hunters and now allow "Antlerless" hunts where cow moose can be shot as well as bulls. The Board of Game, or as we call it, The Board of Shame, wants to increase the number of moose and caribou for one reason only, so there are more game for Alaskan hunters and out of state hunters to shoot, so the reason they are killing predators is simple, eliminate the competition.
My goal of this photograph is to show the world what Alaska allows to happen to it's predators. The cruelty of trapping, the waste of wildlife for sport.
Canon 20d
Sigma 80-400mm OS
Comments
5 comments