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Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages,
by Will N. Graves
Published by Detselig Enterprises Ltd., Calgary,
2007
Book review by Earl Stahl
This book documents Russia’s experience with
wolves over the past 150 years. The author makes it clear that in
writing this book it is not his intention to promote the eradication
of wolves. Rather, his purpose is to educate North American wildlife
managers and biologists, professors, advocates of wolves, and those
who opposed the reintroduction of wolves in the lower 48 states.
Graves believes that wolf populations must be controlled which
benefits all concerned, including the wolf.
Graves comes by his wolf expertise as a result of
various experiences. In 1950 he headed a vaccination group in Mexico
to combat hoof-and-mouth disease when he became interested in the
spread of disease by wolves among cloven hoofed animals. He was the
assistant council at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and served in Army
intelligence in Germany during the Cold War. When he lived in Moscow
he read everything he could find about wolves as a means of improving
his language skills. This led to a wide ranging review of Russian
research, government reports, newspaper articles, and first-hand
accounts of wolf behavior. The documentation of wolf behavior reads
somewhat like a graduate thesis but it is impressive in its scope and
depth. His meticulous survey makes it difficult, if not impossible, to
discount the facts.
The facts are many and varied in the book. The
impact that wolves have had on Russian livestock, domestic animals,
and wild animals is appalling. Even more shocking are the documented
reports of wolves attacking and killing humans, especially children
between the ages of 3-17. Graves shows that there is a direct
correlation between the population of wolves and the population of
wild animals such as moose and roe deer. This is also true for the
population ratios between wolves and domestic reindeer. Whenever the
wolf population has not been controlled, the wild and domestic animals
suffer. In the 1960s Farley Mowat’s book, Never Cry Wolf, was
translated into Russian and the book resulted in a benign approach to
wolf control. However, Graves and others have discredited Mowat’s
assertions that wolves subsist on a diet consisting largely of mice
and lemmings. In one Russian research report, moose made up 80% of
the diet of wolves.
The author makes a strong case for North American
game biologists to launch research into the impact of diseases and
parasites carried by wolves. For example, wolves are carriers of
hoof-and-mouth disease, anthrax, and rabies. Rabid wolves will
approach people and domestic animals and do inflict bites. Wolves
that are healthy but have lost their fear of people (usually as a
result of not being hunted) will also attack people and domestic
pets. These are important caveats for outdoors people and for
livestock and pet owners.
Jim Beers, wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, states, “We owe a debt of gratitude to Graves
for Wolves in Russia – a work that combines a realistic outlook
and an understanding based on years of research and travel. This
information from Russia is an antidote to certain American
environmental delusions.”
Regardless what anyone may believe about the
place of wolves in the lower 48 states, this book is a must read.
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