Friday Chat w/ Vlad
Hey it’s Vlad. Sometimes conservation work gives me whiplash. For every bit of good new, there seems to be an equal amount of bad news. So which would you like first the good news or the bad news? It turns out you humans have actually studied this. When you ask which news people want first, 78% of them say they would like the bad news first. However, when you ask the person (or fox I imagine) which news they would like to give first, most say the good news. Further, when you examine the mood of the individual after both pieces of news, those that got the bad news first were happier. So it would make me happy to give you the good news first but it would make you happy to get the bad news first. Seeing as I am such a selfless giver, I will tell you the bad news first.
You know how wolves were recently removed from the endangered species list right. And then you know how the states where the majority of wolves live started campaigns to exterminate them? It was said that this policy was a product of the last people in charge and the new people in charge would surely reverse this policy. We now know the answer to this question. The current people in charge decided it was ok for the states to keep killing wolves. Doesn’t this just frost you? Wolves are such important members of the ecosystem and yet some people think it’s a good idea to reduce their numbers to levels that set back conservation efforts by many years.
Ok, so now the good news. You have probably heard about the fires burning in Northern California. Some of these fires are in an area that is known to be inhabited by two wolf packs, the Lassen pack and the Whaleback pack. Given the magnitude of these fires biologists were fearful that none of these wolves could have survived. A recent expedition sent out to check on the status of the packs found them alive and well. When the researchers approached the pack they immediately ran away but the biologists did spot this years puppies. GPS data from the tracking collar on the mother shows when the fire burned through she stayed with her pups instead of fleeing for safety. What a mom.
Vlad out