Petition Urges Interior Secretary To Intervene Over Killings Of Denali National Park Wolves

A Care2 petition drive urges Interior Secretary Jewell to intervene in wolf killings near Denali National Park/Care2 Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is being urged by more than 100,000 petitioners to intervene to halt the killings of wolves that wander out of Denali National Park in Alaska. Trappers and hunters have reduced the wolf population in and around the park and its adjacent preserve from 143 to 48 over the past seven years, according to the petition drive launched on Care2 by Marybeth Holleman, an Alaskan and author of Among Wolves. The petiton asks Secretary Jewell to see that a permanent, no-kill buffer zone is established along the park's boundary.  “I've lived in Alaska for nearly 30 years. I saw my first wild wolves in Denali my first summer here, when I was working at the park,” Ms. Holleman told Care2. “I raised my son here. He saw his first wild wolf in Denali 20 years ago, and it set him on his career as a photographer. Denali was one of the best places in the world to see wolves in the wild. But not anymore.” But five years ago Alaska’s Board of Game removed a no-trap, no-kill buffer zone on state land adjacent to the park. Ms. Holleman believes this move is driving wolf decimation. “Unlike most national parks, hunting and trapping is allowed on many Alaskan national parks,” she says. “In addition, as wolves and other wildlife cross invisible park boundaries onto state lands, they are hunted and trapped for 'sport' by a few local residents.”...more