Call in the Wolf Shrink!
There seems to be a wildlife debate over fatal wolf attacks. Experts claim that the fatal wolf mauling of 22-year-old engineering student in Canada is the first "official" case of a human killed by a "healthy wolf or wolves" in North America.
FAIRBANKS -- A Fairbanks wolf biologist testified at a recent Canadian coroner's inquest in what has been declared North America's first documented fatal attack by a wild, healthy wolf or wolves.
Mark McNay testified in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, that he was certain that wolves killed Kenton Carnegie two years ago. McNay retired from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game three months ago.
After three days of testimony, a six-person jury agreed with McNay. The testimony included photos and details of how Carnegie was killed and then eaten by a pack of four wolves at a remote mining camp in northern Saskatchewan.
Humans have been killed by rabid and captive wolves in North America before. There also have been many documented cases of fatal wolf attacks in India. [1]
Gray wolves tend to run in packs ranging from 8 to over 30 members. Male wolves weigh on average 90 pounds and can run 35 m.p.h. and jump up to 12 feet. Their territory ranges from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alaska, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.[2]
In order for a wolf attack to be considered "legitimate" several criteria must be met:
1. The wolf has to be killed, examined and found to be healthy.
2. It must be proven that the wolf was never kept in captivity in its entire life.
3. There must be eyewitnesses to the attack.
4. The person must die from their wounds.[2]
This list of "criteria" automatically precludes all attacks by wolves before Wildlife officials came onto the scene.
It is popularly believed that there is no written record of a healthy wolf ever having killed a person in North America. Those making the claim ignore Eskimoes and Indians who have been killed and are careful to rule out rabid wolves... Ernest Thompson Seron believed that wolves attacked and killed people before the coming of guns and poisons, especially during the Winter months when food was scarce, and Native American oral history supports this.
– Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez (1978)[2]
We agree with Barry Lopez. Wildlife officials have decided that only non-healthy wolves were responsible for human attacks in the past. They've made it impossible to prove otherwise because the "standards of proof" were implemented by the wildlife experts themselves. They paint wolves as lovable creatures who wouldn't attack man unless the wolf was incapacitated by a disease such as rabies.
Luckily wolf "attacks" have been low in number. The fatal attack on the young Canadian was rare. We wouldn't be surprised if in the future wildlife officials hire "wolf psychologists." If a wolf attacks and/or kills a human and is found to be physically fit then the Wolf Shrink will be called in to assess its mental state.
By LBG
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Source - [1] -Anchorage Daily News - Alaska biologist certain wolves killed Canadian
Source - [2] - Wikipedia - List of fatal wolf attacks
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
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