Yesterday my wife wrote to me at work that the plane carrying our aquaintance/friend Dr. Gordon Haber was missing, yesterday evening the wreckage was found on a mountain side and human remains were seen by troopers. This morning The pilot was found alive, Gordon was dead.
We met Gordon our first winter in Juneau AK when he gave a lecture on the plight of Alaskan wolves. We sporadically traded correspondence with him after Trish interviewed him for the paper.
Gordon has studied the wolf packs of Denali National Park over 45 years. He was outspoken against Alaska allowing aerial hunting of wolves as well as Bounties on wolf skins. He began studying under a researcher named Adolph who began observing the wolves in the 1930’s, then Gordon took over his research. That combined research of the wolf packs of Denali entail the longest unbroken study of wild animals in the world. He watched the once proud wolf packs decimated. One of the oldest and largest wolf packs in Denali was cut down by hunters waiting on the border of the park for the wolves to travel through… animals do not understand human borders. Last we heard that wolf pack consisted of three young wolves. By young I mean of an age where they had not yet been taught the art of hunting from the adults. Unable to hunt large animals they were surviving off rabbits as their territory was absorbed by neighboring packs.
Gordon among others fought Alaska’s laws allowing aerial wolf “hunting”. He was also an outspoken critic of Sarah Palin.
“On wildlife-related issues, whether it is polar bears or predator controls, she has shown no inclination to be objective. I cannot find credible scientific data to support their arguments,” he added about the state’s rationale for gunning down wolves. “In most cases, there is evidence to the contrary.” He further argued that Alaska’s reported numbers are wildly inflated. “Sixty to 70 percent of the moose they eat are scavenged, not killed” he would say.
He told us stories about the wolves, one which touched us most was about an Alpha Wolf who’s mate was caught in a snare… he stayed by her as she bled trying to escape and finally died of thirst. He stayed with her when the trapper came days later and dragged her body away behind his snowmobile. He howled through the nights and never really returned to the pack… taking little interest in what was happening as other males began to take over. He finally walked away and did not come back for months, long after a new leader had taken control. He stayed a short time before walking away one last time to never be seen again. How is that for the “Killer wolf” image? No healthy wolf has attacked a human in well over 100 years unless “They poked him in the eye with a stick” as one author put it. Haber’s studies prove that the old stories and fears of wolves are untrue. Wolves are scavengers and rarely attacked Moose or Caribou, the possibility of injury was to high and an injured wolf cannot hunt for food. The wolves of Denali or wild wolves in the far reaches of Alaska and Canada are no threat to those natives who still live off hunting moose and Caribou.
Trapper kills last wolf in Denali’s Sanctuary pack
So now we mourn for not only a man we considered a friend and held in great respect for his dedication to spending much of his life humping the boonies and existing in the wild to be close to the wolves he so loved, but we must mourn the wolves who have lost the loudest voice for their continued survival and protection. Trish and I fear that this may be twilight for the wolves of Denali who are so regularly killed by trappers on the fringe (Two Denali Park wolves snared outside park) and legal aerial hunting by the Dept. of Fish & Game and the Board of Game who Sarah Palin appointed and then gave control of predator control.
Gordon will be missed. Thank you for what you did…
Alaska wolves: Basic and applied research by Gordon Haber, Ph.D.
Wolf-Control Programs Carried Out Under the Guise of ‘Science