IRAQ: Will the wolves survive?

The bloodthirsty enemy had gathered on the perimeter of the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, but this time the locals were ready.

They had formed armed committees similar to the Sons of Iraq forces fighting off Al Qaeda militants in western Iraq. They were gearing up for a fight. Their foes had been attacking them with increasing abandon on the outskirts of this river city 145 miles southeast of Baghdad. They struck along the harsh desert plain leading to Saudi Arabia. They came day or night.

Among children, supernatural powers were attributed to these adversaries. They could withstand intense cold, according to legend, and their eyes changed from yellow to orange to green. There would be no mercy for this enemy. And no negotiations.

The enemy, after all, were packs of hungry gray wolves who had overcome their fear of humans and had begun feasting on livestock, right in front of farmers.

To read the rest of this story, click here.

-- Hassan Halawa in Samawah and Borzou Daragahi in Baghdad

Photo: Magnus Rosendahl  / Freephotos.se

Comments

[Doug Troutman]

I found your wolf article very interesting. My son spent time in Iraq, and I am a Viet Nam veteran. I am a retired wildlife biologist and wilderness specialist.

Another totally unexpected and unintended consequence of the War ???

This should not be unexpected. After the '91 escapade there WERE a very few articles on the destruction of rare ungulates in Kuwait, and Iraq, as a result of military action. When prey disappears, predators adapt.

The carpet bombing of both Iraq and Afghanistan has, at least by my searches, said essentially NOTHING about impacts on such critters as Ibex etc. They didn't even note that the average shmuck blown up, who'd been living like his ancestors for a few centuries in Afghan caves might NOT have had anything to do with Al Qaeda.

In Viet Nam, there were common stories that tigers had taken a liking to scavenging human remains because of "availability" of lots of corpses.

The Brits DID start re-flooding some of the marsh habitat in southern Iraq that Saddam dried up for political purposes, destroying a vast ecosystem, and disrupting wildlife patterns. Now, some of the folks are complaining about the restoration!!

As the poster used to say, "War is not good for children, or other living things." We are only rarely concerned about the children,(when a story makes good press) let alone "other living things".

Anyone who ever saw the impact of a "daisy cutter" which we used in 'Nam, and have been using in Iraq,(why?) can easily see the impact on habitat and wildlife. The impact on humans from Agent Orange has been extreme, the impact on vegetation communities and dependent wildlife populations, far worse.

In a discussion with another biologist and friend who was a Marine in 'Nam, we noted we never saw wild birds in our areas of combat operations, things were ALWAYS going "boom in the night", though he did report rock apes were common in his area.

No wolf has killed a human in the history of the lower 48 states.

Hmmmmm. Isn't it interesting that the wolf stories from Iraq sound so much like those coming from western states livestock grazers begging for wolf de-listing here at home?? I guess we've lost the "range war" too.

to clarify--(wolves were just taken off the Endangered Species List in the Rocky Mountain region)

[Joel Robinson]

Many US citizens have a similar misunderstanding about wolves. I would not be surprised if a significant portion of your readership might relate to the "superstitiousness, old-world mentality and yes, cruelty."

[Joel Robinson]

I read your extremely negative article on the Arabian Wolf, "Villagers in Iraq fend off new menace." I am very concerned that the Arabian Wolf is misrepresented as a fearsome mythical creature that threatens human life when in fact it is a smaller subspecies of the gray wolf and may be threatened by extinction, especially if these exaggerated articles persist. Considering its habitat is drastically being destroyed by oil exploration, over grazing of rangelands, and off road vehicle use, it is no surprise that it has adapted to hunting livestock in nearby villages. It seems that this article was created to instill fear in order to justify mass killings of a potentially endangered species. Please read below articles on the Arabian Wolf, which give a more accurate perspective on their situation, including behavior, foraging habits, conservation status, etc.

http://www.canids.org/bulletins/ArabianCanidStatus.htm

http://www.breedingcentresharjah.com/Canines.htm

http://www.ameinfo.com/31879.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Wolf