Notes from the Field

• Speak for Wolves Returns April 2027
  Speak for Wolves Returns to Washington—Stronger Than Ever The Speak for Wolves Conference, now a program of Western Wildlife Outreach, is returning April 2027 for an in-person conference in Washington state. 📍 Olympia, Washington📅 April 2027 As a nationally recognized gathering, Speak for Wolves brings together educators, scientists, indigenous leaders, policymakers, and advocates working at… Read more: Speak for Wolves Returns April 2027
• Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts Learn Bear Safety
  by Hallie Sykes, Farmer Frog Garden Educator, Woodland Park Zoo Advanced Inquiry Masters Degree Program On a chilly, yet sunny, spring afternoon this April a dozen community members gathered to learn how to share the landscape with black and grizzly bears in a workshop hosted by Western Wildlife Outreach. The workshop featured Zoe Hanley, Senior… Read more: Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts Learn Bear Safety
• Wildlife Habitat & Climate Change
  Being at the top of the food chain means that apex predators such as bears, wolves and cougars can be easily toppled when the biological foundations of their ecosystems collapse. Maintaining healthy habitats for these keystone species protects countless other species that share the landscape with them. While the full long-term impacts of climate change… Read more: Wildlife Habitat & Climate Change
• Western Wildlife Outreach Attends Black Bear Release
  This week Western Wildlife Outreach staff accompanied Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Officers and the Karelian Bear Dog Team into the field to release four black bear cubs.  A shout out to the folks at PAWS in Lynnwood, WA who do such great work with black bear rehabilitation and making this day possible.… Read more: Western Wildlife Outreach Attends Black Bear Release
• Deterring Cougars
  Deterring Cougars by RDean, Humboldt County, California It was that kind of moment, one that left us shocked and stunned into a state of questioning our own sanity. Over almost 40 years of living in our cabin-like little-house on the edge of the Redwood forest in far-north coastal California, we had dismissed occasional accounts of… Read more: Deterring Cougars
• What John Belushi Didn’t Teach Us About Mountain Lions
  by Dr. Jordan Schaul, First published in Huffington Post January 5, 2016. Reprinted with the author’s permission. What may be comical, perhaps endearing and speaks to the elusive nature of the cougar (AKA mountain lion) is one of my earliest visuals of North America’s largest cat. Outside of a visit to a zoo, I recall… Read more: What John Belushi Didn’t Teach Us About Mountain Lions
• Rivers, Salmon, Bears and Healthy Forests
  “What if I told you that the trees are here, in part, because of the salmon? That the trees that shelter and feed the fish, that help build the fish, are themselves built by the fish?” ~ Carl Safina, essayist for Salmon in the Trees Under the cover of darkness, black bears prowl the banks… Read more: Rivers, Salmon, Bears and Healthy Forests
• The Iconic Grizzly Bear Returns
  by Dr. Jordan Schaul. First posted in Huffington Post. Reprinted here with permission from the author. Posted: 12/04/2015 12:13 pm EST Acclaimed photographer Tom Mangelsen and noted journalist Todd Wilkinson just released the book Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, which is a memoir of sorts of one of the most famous grizzly bears in the Lower… Read more: The Iconic Grizzly Bear Returns
• Our Summer Internship with WWO
  At the end of  their summer internships, WWO asked Elliot Harris, Matthew Chang and Nick Ward to write about their experiences.  WWO is very thankful to these three stalwarts for all the amazing things they accomplished on behalf of WWO and large carnivore awareness in Washington State!  Here it is in their own words: I… Read more: Our Summer Internship with WWO
• The Insanity of Not Respecting Nature
  by Mike Cavaroc, Free Roaming Photography. Reprinted with permission, September 15, 2015 2015 has so far seen a number of increased bison attacks on people in Yellowstone National Park, but despite what many visitors think, rarely, if ever, is it the animal’s fault. Most people are surprised to hear that bison are responsible for the… Read more: The Insanity of Not Respecting Nature
• Be Coyote Wise
  Courtesy of WDFW “Crossings Paths” Newsletter, February 2015 It’s good to be wise about wildlife year round to avoid problems, but it’s especially important at this time of year to be “coyote wise”. Coyotes, which are abundant throughout Washington’s rural and urban areas, are paring up and breeding now in late winter to produce pups… Read more: Be Coyote Wise
• Doug Smith, Yellowstone Wolf Lead Project Biologist: Laying out the Facts
  Originally published January 5, 2014. Reprinted with permission of the Montana Pioneer Interview conducted by Quincy Orhai Recently, the Montana Pioneer spoke with Doug Smith, Yellowstone National Park Wolf Project Leader and Senior Biologist at the Yellowstone Center for Resources, about the nature of the wolves introduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, including the “non… Read more: Doug Smith, Yellowstone Wolf Lead Project Biologist: Laying out the Facts
• It’s Halloween! Let’s Face Our Fears
  Ever stop to wonder why Halloween is such a popular holiday?  Most people don’t even get the day off work or school, after all!  Part of the attraction has to do with enjoying the changing season.  Visits to pumpkin patches and the country farm continue to gain in popularity with each new generation.  But another,… Read more: It’s Halloween! Let’s Face Our Fears
• Why I Hunt: Thoughts from a Wolf-Loving, Elk-Killing Tree Hugger
  by David Stalling, Guest Blogger, August 2013 “When the buffalo are gone, we will hunt mice, for we are hunters and we want our freedom.” — Chief Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux, 1831-1890. I’m a wolf-loving tree hugger and I hunt. I kill and eat wild elk.Does this seem contradictory? It’s not if you consider… Read more: Why I Hunt: Thoughts from a Wolf-Loving, Elk-Killing Tree Hugger
• Working Towards Carnivore and Livestock Conflict Avoidance
  Its been an eventful week for Western Wildlife Outreach.  We attended the annual meeting of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee in Dubois, Wyoming.  Our new WWO Bear Safety Brochure debuted there, and won wide approval.  You will see it distributed at a wide number of locations across the West beginning this summer/fall. We also benefitted… Read more: Working Towards Carnivore and Livestock Conflict Avoidance
• Orphaned Cougar Kittens Get New Homes, Provide Education
  RICHARD A. BEAUSOLEIL, Bear / Cougar Specialist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Guest Post Between 2002 and 2012, 26 orphan cougar cubs have been reported to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), captured by staff, and placed with facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) throughout the country (Table 1,… Read more: Orphaned Cougar Kittens Get New Homes, Provide Education

Videos

• The Secret Life of Mountain Lions
  The Secret Life of Mountain Lions from Secret Life of Mountain Lions on Vimeo. The Secret Life of Mountain Lions ​provides a rare glimpse into the family and social bonds of mountain lions. It affirms their rightful place ​in nature and the importance of ​protecting them ​for generations to come. Narrated by Chris Morgan (PBS,… Read more: The Secret Life of Mountain Lions
• Got Grizzlies?
  A film by WWO Founder Chris Morgan on the pathway to recovering North Cascades Grizzly Bears!