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F
or some people, the return of wolves
brings humans a precious gift. It is the gift of a second chance. These people
urgently want to believe that our society is now a little wiser and kinder than
our long ago, ugly history of wolf hatred would indicate.
These people realize they risk disappointment by banking so many hopes on the
return of the wolf. They know that things won't be perfect when the wolves come
back. Somewhere a wolf is going to kill another animal. Somewhere, an embittered
man is going to shoot a wolf, attach its beeper to a log, and throw it into
a fast-flowing river just to spite biologists. These things happen even now.
Nevertheless, the return of the wolf seems a momentous turning point in history. Wolves are returning, and their return offers humans a chance to demonstrate new tolerance and sensitivity in dealing with North America's most fascinating and controversial predator. Surely, things cannot go as badly as they did the first time around.
I n
some places, wolves are being restored to their former habitat with enormous effort
and at considerable public expense. Many dedicated people, both professional and
volunteers work zealously to bring wolves back to places where they flourished
before they were driven to the brink of extinction. If these people succeed, the
wolves released into the wild will arrive as confused travelers in nylon dog kennels
and will be freed in gradual steps, their progress followed closely by managers.
In other places, wolves are restocking themselves, coming in on their own. Nobody invited them. Nobody is helping them. They're simply doing what wolves have always done: striking out for new places to hunt, howl,mate, raise a family, and raise a new pack of wolves.
If I Had Been Raised By Wolves
I would know what it feels like to be loved unconditionally. I would know what it feels
like to be respected and supported. They would have taught me to honor my boundaries and to respect those of others. They
would have taught me to be generous with my love and affection , and to chose my mate with care and to honor the
union for life. They would have taught me that it is never permissible to mate with a family member. They would have taught
me what support and community are all about. The elderly, the aunts, and the uncles are welcome as members of the pack.
They are helpers and look after the cubs while the parents are out hunting or resting. They bathe, feed, and care for the young
like they were there own. The wolves would have taught me to be myself but to also be able to play, eat, sleep, travel, and
move with others. They would have taught me not to get more than I needed. They would have taught me to kill only when I
was hungry, and not to kill for fun or sport. Being responsible for my actions would be a lesson that I would have learned from the
wolves. If I stepped out of line one of the leaders or my parents would have reprimanded me but they would never have
shamed me. The wolves use a good and necessary kind of discipline called "tough love". Wolves grieve when they loose a
mate, a loved one, a family member, or a pack mate. They allow themselves to howl or cry. They would have taught me that it
is an essential part of living to experience the grieving and would never have tried to stop me until I was finished. The skills that these supposed "wild animals" receive are sometimes more than our children are taught. It is sad to think that we as a human race don't always give our offspring the capacity for loving, and respecting themselves as well as others, that our Brother Wolf has the forethought to do.
Original Author unknown
Revised by Yava March 1999
