The Wolf Man

source: xploitme, Flickr

On our tour through the Adirondacks this past weekend we met some really interesting characters. There were the crazy luge, skeleton, and aerials athletes from the Olympic Training Center, as well as the couple running a farm full of goats. But there’s no doubt that the most interesting person was Alex, the wolf handler from the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge. The way he interacted with the wolves was incredible, and to any sensible person kind of scary. The wolves at the wildlife refuge were all raised there by the owners and share a strong bond with their human care takers, but they are still wild animals. Working with wild animals is risk that Alex understands and accepts, but there many people who do not fully respect the creatures they work with and pay a great price.

The poster boy for not fully respecting the wild animals he worked with was Timothy Treadwell, better known as the “Grizzly Man.” Treadwell is famous for having lived among grizzly bears in Alaska’s Katmai park for 13 years, before being mauled to death in 2003. A movie titled “Grizzly Man” was released in 2005 using footage filled by Treadwell along with interviews with those who knew and interacted with him. The most common points mentioned in the film are that Treadwell failed to take any precautions to ensure his safety, and that by staying late in the fall he put himself at an extreme risk which likely caused his own death.

On the other hand Alex is a good example of someone who balances the risks and comes out with a beneficial relationship with the wolves. There are others as well like Mark Dumas who is famous for his wild animals, especially his polar bear Agee. Mark is a professional animal handler and has great respect for the animals he works with. In addition to their respect for the animals Alex and Mark share one other trait. They are both PROFESSIONAL animal handlers. So let’s leave the wild animal handling to them, and give the animals the respect they deserve.

Sources

http://www.katmaibears.com/timothytreadwell.htm

http://grizzlyman.com/

http://www.beyondbears.ca/info.aspx