October 27, 2022
We had an exciting Wolf Awareness Week. Thank you to everyone who helped support and participated in our virtual activities! Our goal was to both educate and shine a positive light on wolves in Wisconsin and beyond.
Here is a quick recap that includes all our Wolf Awareness Week content:
- Check out the special presentation from Peter David for Ma’iingan Monday as he discussed the Ojibwe’s relationship with Ma’iingian (the wolf) from its origins in the Creation Story, to its application to contemporary wolf stewardship.
- Now that the week is over, it's the best time to Test Yourself "Tuesday" with our Wolf Quiz to test your knowledge!
- “Wolf Talk Wednesday”- please watch Adrian Wydeven (Certified Wildlife Biologist) discuss is wolf ecology, biology and management.
- The “Therapeutic Thursday” wolf coloring sheet is available to download, print and even share on social media to show off your inner-artist. (A special thanks to Katherine Homes for the wolf image!)
- Looking to curl up and relax? Check out our list of wolf related movies and documentaries for Friday Flicks or any night:
- Family – YouTube (3 mins) A Short film asking Secretary Haaland to relist the wolf under the Endangered Species Act.
- How Wolves Change Rivers - YouTube (4 mins) Watch how wolves create change through the Yellowstone landscape.
- A Wolf’s Place - FilmFreeway (16 mins) Twenty years after their reintroduction, wild wolves have made a remarkable comeback in the Rocky Mountains. But as new hunting seasons take heavy tolls and politicians push to remove all protections across the US, gray wolves stand on the edge of a precipice. ‘A Wolf’s Place’ examines how wolves impact entire ecosystems in what scientists call a “trophic cascade.”
- Wolves in Wisconsin - PBS (55 mins) This WPT special examines the history, return and current controversy surrounding gray wolves in Wisconsin.
- The Trouble with Wolves - $5 Rental (56 mins) Death threats, court battles, and an iconic endangered species in middle; The Trouble With Wolves takes an up close look at the most heated and controversial wildlife conservation debate of our time.
- Medicine of the Wolf - Amazon Prime (1 hr 14 mins) Featuring captivating footage and testimony from world renown wildlife photographer, Jim Brandenburg, a filmmaker travels into wolf country to pursue the intrinsic value of brother wolf and its forgotten promise to him.
- Druid Peak - Amazon Prime (1 hr 54 mins) Coming of age story - conservation twist. Owen is a bully responsible for an accidental death. Sent to his father in Yellowstone he begins to heal. His father's wolf research and encounters with a particular wolf, stir something long dead within himself.
- Watch our up close and special experience with Seacrest Wolf Preserve! You will be treated to a chorus of wolf howls as we got to know two ambassador wolves!
We also learned about how this organization uses educational programs, to teach people about wolves, create awareness of the importance of wolves in their ecosystems and dispel the myths that have been associated with this keystone species for far too long.
Looking beyond Wolf Awareness Week; Wolves NEED your voice!
Your actions right now are critical. Here are some things you can do to help:
- Watch for our updates on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Wolf Management Plan that should be released in the next few weeks. Public comment on that plan could affect wolf management in our state for the next decade. Click here and you can enter your email to be updated when that is available from the WDNR.
- Tell Congress to support the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act – This would help dozens of endangered or threatened species in Wisconsin, including the gray wolf, monarch butterflies, and whooping crane. This critical funding will help protect these species and their habitats.
- Please learn more about our work here and consider joining our Wildlife Team to help protect wolves. We meet once per month virtually and would love to welcome new members to our pack!
- Talk about and share what you appreciate about wolves with your network of friends, family and neighbors just as our Wildlife Team member Roland shares with you here.