Wild Horses Wild Wolves

Established in 1967, the Ghost River Wilderness Area, located along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta, is one of only three provincially designated wilderness areas in the province. As such, it is supposed to have the strictest form of government protection available in Canada, with development, motorized transportation and recreational activities either tightly controlled or altogether forbidden. This has not been the case, however. It is in this beautiful, threatened and geographically remote area that Maureen Enns, a well-known artist, author, educator and conservationist, has come to discover an incredible world inhabited by wild horses, one of the region’s most elusive and iconic creatures. Descendants of the original settlers of the area have been known to describe the “wildies” of the Ghost Wilderness as ugly, nondescript, Roman-nosed and useless animals. But such descriptions stand in sharp contrast to some of the athletic and beautiful stallions, mares and foals that Enns has encountered. Using a stunning combination of drawn and painted images, conventional and remote photography (using hidden cameras activated by heat or motion) and traditional stories told by Peigan and Stoney Nakoda people, Enns invites the reader to join her as she untangles old myths regarding Alberta’s heritage and reveals some uncomfortable realities facing the province in the 21st century. The wild horses, wolves, moose, deer and bear profiled in this book have had little contact with humankind. As communities, developers and governments struggle to understand the impacts of conservation, recreation and development in sacred places, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep the “wild” in wild animals. This project is passionate plea for understanding, conservation and action.

Established in 1967, the Ghost River Wilderness Area, located along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta, is one of only three provincially designated wilderness areas in the province. As such, it is supposed to have the strictest form of government protection available in Canada, with development, motorized transportation and recreational activities either tightly controlled or altogether forbidden. This has not been the case, however. It is in this beautiful, threatened and geographically remote area that Maureen Enns, a well-known artist, author, educator and conservationist, has come to discover an incredible world inhabited by wild horses, one of the region's most elusive and iconic creatures. Descendants of the original settlers of the area have been known to describe the "wildies" of the Ghost Wilderness as ugly, nondescript, Roman-nosed and useless animals. But such descriptions stand in sharp contrast to some of the athletic and beautiful stallions, mares and foals that Enns has encountered. Using a stunning combination of drawn and painted images, conventional and remote photography (using hidden cameras activated by heat or motion) and traditional stories told by Peigan and Stoney Nakoda people, Enns invites the reader to join her as she untangles old myths regarding Alberta's heritage and reveals some uncomfortable realities facing the province in the 21st century. The wild horses, wolves, moose, deer and bear profiled in this book have had little contact with humankind. As communities, developers and governments struggle to understand the impacts of conservation, recreation and development in sacred places, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep the "wild" in wild animals. This project is passionate plea for understanding, conservation and action.

The Mongolian wild horse was once considered extinct in the wild and only a few existed in zoos. Find out how scientists working together have reintroduced Mongolian wild horses to their former habitat and are helping them take their first steps on the road to recovery.

The Chilcotin’s wild horses are are romantic and beautiful, but they are also controversial: they are seen by government policy as intruders competing for range land with native species and domestic cattle and, as a result, they have been subject to culls and are not officially protected. In this compelling book, wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory draws upon two decades of research to make a case for considering these wonderful creatures, called qiyus in traditional Tŝilhqot’in culture, a resilient part of the area’s balanced prey-predator ecosystem. McCrory also chronicles the Chilcotin wild horses’ genetic history and significance to the Tŝilhqot’in, juxtaposing their efforts to protect qiyus against movements to cull them.

Find out what a gray wolf has in common with a red fox or an African lion. Discover what sets a gray wolf apart from a manatee or a giant panda. Readers will compare and contrast key traits of gray wolves—their appearance, behavior, habitat, and life cycle—to traits of other mammals. Charts and sidebars support key ideas and provide details. Through gathering information about similarities and differences, readers will make connections and draw conclusions about what makes this animal a mammal and how mammals are alike and different from each other.

Many Japanese once revered the wolf as Oguchi no Magami, or Large-Mouthed Pure God, but as Japan began its modern transformation wolves lost their otherworldly status and became noxious animals that needed to be killed. By 1905 they had disappeared from the country. In this spirited and absorbing narrative, Brett Walker takes a deep look at the scientific, cultural, and environmental dimensions of wolf extinction in Japan and tracks changing attitudes toward nature through Japan's long history. Grain farmers once worshiped wolves at shrines and left food offerings near their dens, beseeching the elusive canine to protect their crops from the sharp hooves and voracious appetites of wild boars and deer. Talismans and charms adorned with images of wolves protected against fire, disease, and other calamities and brought fertility to agrarian communities and to couples hoping to have children. The Ainu people believed that they were born from the union of a wolflike creature and a goddess. In the eighteenth century, wolves were seen as rabid man-killers in many parts of Japan. Highly ritualized wolf hunts were instigated to cleanse the landscape of what many considered as demons. By the nineteenth century, however, the destruction of wolves had become decidedly unceremonious, as seen on the island of Hokkaido. Through poisoning, hired hunters, and a bounty system, one of the archipelago's largest carnivores was systematically erased. The story of wolf extinction exposes the underside of Japan's modernization. Certain wolf scientists still camp out in Japan to listen for any trace of the elusive canines. The quiet they experience reminds us of the profound silence that awaits all humanity when, as the Japanese priest Kenko taught almost seven centuries ago, we "look on fellow sentient creatures without feeling compassion."

2014 bronze medal winner eLit awards,gold medal winner 2013 Living Now Awards; 2014 Stevo internet reviews #1 for March, June 2013 Book of the month on Pacific Book review: Wild Among Us is a fascinating series of autobiographical stories by Pat Toth-Smith, a young female wildlife photographer who stalks bears, wolves, mountain lions, wild horses, moose, bald eagles, and buffalos. Told in a very candid and down-to-earth manner, Pat seems very approachable, like someone you could sit around a campfire with and swap stories. Never dull, the story telling pulls you into her perilous world, where you share the strange and sometimes dangerous situations she navigates as she travels the highways and wilderness areas of North America. In the end it all seems worth it when we see the results of her labors, the stunning wildlife photos, the vivid observations of the animal's behavior and the hard earned knowledge gleaned from learning on the job. Wild Among Us is unique in that has the aesthetic beauty of a fine art photo book combined with the powerful stories of pursuit, danger and life-threatening wildlife encounters that push the author to face her fears, rely on her intuition to survive and become stronger for it.

There are many publications about the need to limit population growth. Most stop after strong arguments that somebody must do something. Most are scholarly publications that get read by people who are already well aware of the problems. (They preach to the choir, not the other sinners in the pews.) This one is different. It deals with the economic and moral issues that affect every person. It is aimed at people not accustomed to reading weighty material, and who haven't yet heard the message in a meaningful way. It tells how every individual, in every life circumstance, can help.