Safari Soul Searching

I have gone on 10 safaris to southern Africa. Three of those safaris were photography safaris, although in reality I made all of them into photography safaris. 

But I don’t know that I will be doing any more.

My most recent photo safari, to Tanzania, raised some serious ethical issues in my mind. And frankly, I don’t know that I can ever be a part of what I witnessed again.

The first instance involved a safari guide driving a Land Cruiser, the vehicle of choice for African safaris, into the brush where a male lion was sleeping. Other vehicles were nearby, waiting to see whether or not the lion would get up and perhaps make himself visible. Nobody did anything to force the lion to get up...except for one guide 

That driver decided to drive into the brush, toward the lion, and force the animal to interrupt his sleep and get up to avoid the vehicle. I was so upset that I yelled at the driver. Safari practice is to speak, if at all, in low voices so as not to disturb the animals. But I was so upset that I yelled without thinking about it. That experience with the irresponsible guide rattled me for the rest of the day.

Another issue that bothered me was that there were so many vehicles (at least 25 in most cases) that any time a wild animal was spotted, it was very quickly surrounded. Some animals could handle this, while others were clearly distressed. We saw two coalitions of cheetahs one morning. A coalition is a group of male cheetahs or lions that work together as a group to hunt and socialize. Members of coalitions are typically male littermates  that work together to defend a territory against other males. They often stay together for a lifetime.

One of the coalitions, perhaps older animals, seemed unfazed by the presence of 25 to 30 vehicles. They went about their business seemingly unperturbed.

The other, younger coalition, was clearly stressed and panicking. They trotted away from the gathering vehicles and seemed to be wanting to hunt. As a large group of vehicles surrounded them, the cheetahs had little means of escape. By this point, everyone in my vehicle agreed to take a few shots and leave the area. None of us wanted to be part of the ongoing harassment of these wild animals. We had invested a great deal of money to purchase cameras and lenses that allowed us to photograph animals from a comfortable distance rather than relying on our cell phones to capture that 'award winning' image.

These experiences really soured me on going on safari again. Our guides were wonderful, doing everything in a respectful and ethical manner. But I began to question whether I can ever enjoy a safari again, and whether I can justify, and accept, being part of a business that treats wildlife so disrespectfully. 

I'm sure the offending guides -- all guides must be licensed by the Tanzanian government -- were hoping for bigger tips by giving their clients up-close views of the animals. I get that, but that doesn't give anyone the right to harass and stress wild animals in their homes.

I take pride in being a moral, ethical, upstanding person who cares deeply about protecting animals both domestic and wild. I likewise care deeply about the environment.

I know that whether I am sitting in a Land Cruiser on another photo safari or whether I boycott future safaris, the vehicles will continue to chase wildlife for the satisfaction and enjoyment of their clients. Tourism is the second largest contributor to the economy of Tanzania (agriculture is #1), so if I'm not taking part, the industry and those whose livelihoods depend on it won't suffer. I am just one person.

I also know that the income derived from tourism helps to protect these animals and their habitat, as well as providing much-needed jobs for those in local communities.

The crowding of the animals was so bad that my group really savored wildlife viewing on the rare occasions when we were the only or one of a few vehicles present.

So I have a very important decision to make. I love visiting Africa and photographing its wildlife. But I won't sacrifice my personal beliefs to do so. And there are many countries I still hope to visit and a limited travel budget.

I don't know what my decision will be. I do know it isn't one I will make without a great deal of soul searching.

Under African Skies

Last year I took a 16-day photography trip to the west African country of Namibia.

One night -- thankfully, only one night -- we camped out in a remote location. Each of us was provided a tent, cot, sleeping bag and air mattress. While each piece individually was fine, the combination was not. As a result, I was unable to sleep even for a few hours. Even worse, I slid right off the cot and got wedged between the cot and one wall of the tent. After a struggle, I was able to get up, and I pulled everything off the cot and lay directly on the cot under a couple of blankets. The air mattress was history. But by then, the idea of sleep had left me.

As I lay in my tent, I observed the myriad of stars through the mesh top of the tent. The skies were incredibly clear, and never have I seen so many stars anywhere other than during previous trips to Arica.

The African sky also has the most glorious sunsets I have ever seen. The best ever was in South Africa. It was so magnificent that everyone in my vehicle urgently asked the guide to stop so we could photograph it. The sunset pictured was in Tanzania.

Even daylight sees the skies illuminating a glorious landscape of animals found nowhere else on earth. Giraffes of several species, zebras, baboons, wildebeests, lions, cheetahs, leopards and of course, African elephants live on the continent. There is nothing quite like falling asleep, or waking in the middle of the night, to the sound of a lion roaring.

I first visited Africa several years ago, and I quickly fell in love with the continent. Since then, I have returned a total of 11 times. Some of those trips, most of them in fact, were safaris. But three others took me to the northern African countries of Egypt, Ethiopia and Morocco.

I know that my view of Africa is a gilded one. There is rampant poverty throughout the continent. Society is very patriarchal. Many governments are incredibly corrupt. There are occasional terrorist attacks in Kenya and Nigeria. Civil war has destroyed many in Sudan. 

But the African people I have met have been wonderful, friendly and helpful. I sense that the people I encounter in the safari companies and at the various hotels and lodges where I have stayed truly enjoy their jobs. I have the sense that they aren't just going through the motions as they provide services to their guests.

I love going to Africa, as evidenced by my repeated trips
there. The opportunity to photograph African wildlife and experience the thrill of being close to these magnificent animals is beyond words. I am fortunate to let my cameras do the talking for me.

I can't wait for my next African adventure!

. 

Wild Africa

I've been longing to return to Africa and reminiscing about an amazing 3-week trip to Kenya in 2017.

That was my fifth trip to Africa, and my third to Kenya. I was joined by a friend from Scotland and a couple from England, all of whom I had met the previous year on a trip to Kenya. The trip saw us visiting four different camps in northern Kenya, for stays lasting from four to seven days each. 

This adventure was outstanding in so many ways. In addition to seeing and photographing lots of wild animals, we went for a horseback ride in Borana. We were able to get pretty close to giraffes and zebras, as well as enjoying the beautiful weather. We followed a pride of 15 lions one late afternoon, with two of the pride's three adult males walking just an arm's length from our vehicle. We watched a beautiful leopard and her cub over the course of three days. She was totally unperturbed by the presence of numerous safari vehicles.

Also while in Borana, we were part of a group that replaced a radio collar on a lioness. Once she was located, a Kenyan veterinarian tranquilized her with a rifle-fired dart. After she was down, she was quickly moved into the shade, her eyes were covered and water was poured over her to keep her body from overheating. After the old collar was removed and the lioness fitted with a new one, the veterinarian collected blood and tissue samples. Then a lion researcher took a variety of body measurements -- from length of the animal's tale to the size of her paws -- before the vet gave her a drug to reverse the anesthetic. We had hoped to be involved with the collaring of a male lion the next day, but he and his pals were in an area too inaccessible to be safely reached.

I visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's elephant orphanage in Nairobi three times. The 11 a.m. visit is open to anyone, while the 5 p.m. visit is open only to those who sponsor one or more of the orphans and who sign up in advance. It was great fun watching the babies rush to their individual stockades at the end of a day spent in Nairobi National Park. Each baby gets a bottle or two of special milk formula, as well as freshly cut greens before being closed in its individual stockade for the night. 

I spent several minutes with one of my three sponsored orphans (the other two had moved on to the next phase of their preparation for return to the wild). Mbegu is now four years old and described as a 'mini matriarch.' While making our final visit to the orphanage, we ran into Iain Douglas-Hamilton, noted elephant researcher and father of Elephant Watch Camp's manager and wildlife filmmaker Saba Douglas-Hamilton. We had met Iain the previous year while visiting the camp in the Samburu National Preserve.

We visited the Maasai Mara to watch the Great Migration. Some 1.5 million wildebeests and countless zebra make this annual circular migration through Kenya and Tanzania.

I got to meet the student whose high school education I am sponsoring. She 8is Turkana, from one of the many tribes in Kenya. She was very shy, probably due to her developing English skills and the fact that females in her culture are expected to be submissive. She said that chemistry is her favorite subject in school. We learned that we both love Coke (she had had Coke only once before), and both of us have blue as our favorite color. The lunch that was served was entirely foreign to the students, and mine definitely did not like lettuce! Another sponsored student, also Turkana, visited his sponsors at the same time.

I tried some portrait photography with a few of the incredible Samburu people who work at EWC, although I would have liked to photograph more of them. The tracker assigned to my group, a young man named Skanga, was extremely cooperative and seemed to enjoy being photographed. 

This trip was a bonanza for watching lions, including males, young adults and mothers with cubs. We were lucky enough to see a lone male cheetah, as well as two different mothers, each of which had two older cubs in tow.

In all, I shot more than 9,500 images with my two cameras. Of course, thousands got deleted when I got home, but I still have some good images. The wildlife viewing was phenomenal, and my photography has improved considerably since my first trip five years ago. I won't get to visit Kenya again for a couple of years, but I hope my trips to Ethiopia and Botswana will be equally as rewarding..

Animals Make Me Smile

I was driving down a two-lane road near my house recently when I saw some horses. I immediately smiled to myself.

I then realized that seeing animals nearly always makes me smile. Sometimes I see donkeys along this road. I may spot a coyote when I'm out for a walk in my neighborhood, or perhaps I spot someone walking a dog. One day I saw a couple of people on horseback waiting for the 'walk' light to come on so they could cross a road in the crosswalk!

And of course, seeing wild animals -- whether in Yellowstone or Africa or Alaska -- makes my soul happy. Spending time with mother grizzly bears and their cubs, or sitting quietly as I watch a group of lionesses with their cubs, or three adult male lions waking up from a nap -- is the pinnacle of happiness for me. Sometimes I put my camera down and just enjoy watching animals be animals. Watching one of my dogs tear through the back yard with a small toy in his mouth always makes me laugh. Sometimes one of my small dogs will get up from a nap, walk to her blankets on the floor, and roll around on her back, burying her face in the blankets.

Seeing or reading about the cruelty to which some humans subject animals, be it trophy hunting or deliberate cruelty to a domestic animal, breaks my heart. But I try to focus on the joy animals bring me. I am at my happiest when I'm out in nature photographing wildlife. Few things are better than spotting a leopard relaxing in a tree, or a cheetah family hurrying across a crocodile-infested river, or a mother elephant helping her youngster up a muddy river bank.

In my office I have a beautiful head shot of a black wolf photographed by a Yellowstone-area photographer, an Ansel Adams print from Yosemite, a replica elephant head, another photograph of a wolf, and photos of my dogs. I'm about to frame an hang a beautiful head shot of a leopard I saw in Kenya last year.

There is so much hatred and negativity in the world. The nightly news is filled with negative stories, as is my Facebook newsfeed. So it's good for my soul to smile at the simple beauty of animals, be they American or African, domestic or wild.

Sounds in the Night

It has been a very long time since I slept well, so I spend a lot of time awake, listening to the sounds of the night.

Because I live on the edge of a city of about 90,000 people, in an area where the lots are all 1/2 acre, I seldom hear my neighbors. And the roads in this part of town are unpaved, so traffic, such as it is, usually moves fairly slowly.

One recent night found me awake at some ridiculous hour. My bedroom window was slightly open, so I could hear coyotes howling. Their howling started neighborhood dogs barking. Fortunately, my dogs were sound asleep and didn't respond to the howls and barks. I heard traffic on the big street a few blocks away, and then a jet overhead. Later that night (it was actually very early morning), I heard a train whistle as it sped along. I also heard one of my dogs whimpering in her sleep. 

I love the sounds of a peaceful night. When I lived in northern California, it seemed there was always a jet flying overhead (I was only a few miles from the San Jose airport), and blocks from a busy expressway. Even late at night I heard racing motorcycles, speeding cars and squawking ambulances or other emergency vehicles. And like many in northern California, my house was just a few feet from my neighbor. She was in her 80s and hard of hearing, so her television volume was very loud.

My most unusual, and startling, night sound happened a couple of years ago in Botswana. The first camp a friend and I stayed in was just outside Chobe National Park, and it had no fence around it. (Some African parks are surrounded by electric fences, but most are not). Animals were free to come and go. One night I was blasted out of bed by a single, very loud and very near trumpet of an elephant. I must have levitated about 2 feet above my bed. It took a while for my heart to return to its normal rhythm. After talking with another guest at breakfast, we decuded that the elephant must have been between our tents.

Last spring I was on safari in South Africa, again in a camp with no fencing. As I lay in my tent waiting to fall asleep, I listened to the roaring of nearby lions and the trumpeting of elephants. During my first safari, in Kenya, I could hear zebra and hippos nearby. Camp was located near a river, and hippos leave the safety of the water after dark to feed on vegetation (and any crops they can get to). And in Tanzania, one of the camp staff was walking me to my tent after dinner and scanning the area with a large flashlight. "There's a buffalo beside your tent," he said quietly. "Don't worry. Just keep the flaps down and you'll be fine." I got ready for bed very quietly that night. The buffalo also remained silent. 

It's always a bit unnerving to think that nothing more than a canvas tent (albeit a sturdy one) separates me from some potentially dangerous animals. But it's so nice to know that some of our planet's wonderful wildlife are so close that I can hear them going about their business.

Lessons From Yellowstone

I recently returned from an eight-day photography trip to my favorite place in the United States, Yellowstone National Park.

While being driven back to Bozeman, MT, for my flight home, I was thinking about what I had learned during that winter trip to America's first national park. I believe there is always something to be learned, even from places we have visited several times before. 

This is what I learned from this beautiful, amazing wild place.

• I realized all over again how much I love Yellowstone. It isn't just the wildlife -- wolves, bison, bighorn sheep, elk, bobcats, red foxes, cougars and more -- although the animals are amazing and the reason I go there so often. It's also the wildness of Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres, and its thousands of thermal features (geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots and more). It's also the mountains, the valleys, the many rivers and waterfalls, and the harshness of the place. And it's the lack of cell phone service inside the park.
• I realized how passionate I am about wildlife and landscape photography.  Why else would I get up long before dawn to go into the park and stand outside in sub-zero temperatures, howling winds, sleet and snow to photograph bison? Why would I spend hours staring at a bobcat across the river, waiting for it to make a brief appearance?
  
• I realized anew how being in Yellowstone makes my heart sing. It restores a long-lost connection to the natural world and it connects me to a world where humans are decidedly not the top species.
  
• Yellowstone is one of those places that gets into the blood of many of its 4.25 million annual visitors. People take a temporary job in the park and end up never leaving. Others return again and again. This was my seventh trip to Yellowstone in just three  years. A German couple on the same trip was on its sixth trip as well. The woman told me that she cries every time she has to leave Yellowstone. I understand her sentiment. Yellowstone is just that kind of place.
• Visiting the park in winter gave me an entirely new perspective from my previous visits. Even familiar places looked new and different. 
• I saw the daily struggle for survival, particularly by the prey animals such as bison, elk and deer. Watching a 1-ton bison use its massive head to sweep away deep snow to uncover the dry, brown grass below was a sobering sight. So, too, is the knowledge that some 10 percent of adult bison will not survive the winter. For bison born less than a year ago, the mortality rate can reach 20 percent to 40 percent. The wolves, on the other hand, thrive during the winter, their prey weakened by hunger. 
• I realized that millions of people love Yellowstone and want to protect it, yet we as Americans seem powerless to stop the relentless attacks by Republicans who want to open this treasure to mining or to sell these public lands to private companies for exploitation.
• This trip also confirmed what I already knew -- that I am physically unable to handle a lens bigger than my 120-400mm telephoto zoom. After several hours of standing in the cold waiting for a seldom-seen bobcat to leave the safety of a log, my arthritic hands and the wrist I broke a year ago were hurting. I have had my eye on a 150-500mm or even a 150-600mm lens for quite a while, but this trip finally made me realize that bigger lenses are simply too heavy for me to comfortably handle.
• Finally, after downloading my trip photos, I realize that my 120-400mm lens does a good job of capturing smaller subjects from a distance. With a bit of cropping, my photos of the bobcat and a red fox are fairly impressive. 

So thank you, Yellowstone, for teaching me valuable lessons. Thank you for your wildness and for you uniqueness. May you always remain wild and free. 

  

A Mother's Love Photo

This photo of a tender moment in the lives of a mother gray langur and her baby is now available at the following Web sites: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-ann-sullivan.html and https://desertmountainphotography.smugmug.com

The picture was taken in May on a visit to India's Ranthambhore National Park. Gray langurs are Old World monkeys that are the most widespread of South Asia's langurs. They are large and fairly terrestrial, inhabiting forest, open lightly wooded habitats, and urban areas on the Indian subcontinent. Langurs are diurnal, sleeping at night in treetops or on manmade structures such as towers. Langurs are preyed upon by tigers and leopards.

All proceeds from the sale of images will be donated to the scholarship fund of Save the Elephants, which enables high-achieving but impoverished Kenyan students to attend high school.

Without the Beasts

What is man without the beasts? For if all the beasts were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit. -- Chief Seattle

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. -- Chief Seattle

I love these quotes by the great Indian chief, Seattle. They seem particularly relevant to me now, after spending a wonderful week in Yellowstone National Park (and a couple of days near Grand Teton National Park), searching for, observing and photographing the park's magnificent wildlife.

Although wolves are typically very reclusive and stay well away from humans, we saw wolves on four different days. And we were able to watch some animals without the use of spotting scopes. One cold and windy evening, just at sunset, we watched the entire Lamar Canyon pack of eight wolves (parents and six yearling pups) trotting across the snowy landscape. We saw a small group of wolves just hanging out together. The sound of their howls as they talked to the rest of the pack across the road was spine-tingling. The morning we were leaving Yellowstone, we were thrilled to see two wolves, a male and a female, lying in the snow just 100 yards off the road. We watched in awe as they eventually got up and walked up a nearby hill. And on the last day of the trip, we followed four beautiful gray wolves as they trotted in line across the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming. Although I think all wolves are beautiful, these four were particularly magnificent. My eye saw what would have been a fantastic photograph, with three of the wolves back lit by the morning sun. Sadly, they were too far away for a photograph, but seeing them through a spotting scope was still a thrill.

One of the guides mentioned that while many people come to Yellowstone with the dream of seeing wolves, many never see them. But even then, they appreciate enjoying Yellowstone's sense of wildness. For them, as for me, just knowing the wolves are there is comforting. And getting to see them, as I did, and even getting to see and hear them howl to their brethren across the the road, was a special treat.

Elk cows on Wyoming's National Elk Refuge.

Bison were present, too, although in smaller numbers than usual. And bighorn sheep, pronghorns, foxes and even a grizzly that left hibernation months early due to the unusually warm weather. We saw bald and golden eagles, and beautiful trumpeter swans. And of course, elk were plentiful at Wyoming's National Elk Refuge. 

Wildlife are under attack in many places these days. Many ranchers hate wolves and coyotes and jump at the chance to kill them. Bison are under attack by none other than Yellowstone National Park, in conjunction with Montana cattle ranchers.

Grizzly bears are hunted in some places despite their limited numbers. Wildlife in other countries face threats from poachers, trophy hunting and human encroachment. I worry about what we humans are doing to this planet. We use it up, we
Mine it, we pollute it. Not only the wildlife, but human lives as well, may well be threatened if we don't change our ways.

Chief Seattle was a wise man indeed. So many of would "die of a great loneliness of the spirit" if we lose our magnificent wildlife. These animals, all of them, have a great intrinsic value far beyond whatever economic impact they have. Thousands of people visit Yellowstone every with the hope, however small, of seeing a wolf. We are thrilled to watch bison, bighorn sheep and other wild animals. It fills our souls with hope and a connection to something much older and greater than us.

The Value of Wildlife

I am sickened and disgusted by the current war on wildlife. From coyote killing contests to trophy hunting of magnificent bears, the slaughter never stops.

How can anybody take pleasure in slaughtering animals that mean no harm to anyone? Hunting deer or other animals to provide food for one's family is somewhat understandable. At least then the animal's life is not wasted. But shooting a wolf, bear or mountain lion for fun, or to make a rug, is just sick. And just as bad are the Facebook photos of the grinning cretins proudly posing with their trophies. Who can possibly consider this to be fun? I even saw a picture of a naked mighty hunter, posing as he straddled a beautiful but dead bear. Can you say 'pervert'?

How about the picture of the newlywed couple proudly posing with a dead zebra they had just shot, or the family that paid tens of thousands of dollars for the right to murder a gorgeous male lion?

I never will understand how anyone can kill an animal -- be it bird or bear, wolf or wolverine -- for fun. The Albuquerque

newspaper ran a photo a few months ago with an article about the popularity of hunting classes for young people. The photo showed a teenage girl posing proudly with a sand hill crane she had shot. Why did she murder a sand hill crane? These beautiful, graceful birds are no threat to people. They eat corn and other grains. And they are not consumed by humans. So why did this girl feel it was OK to kill this bird?

New Mexico, where I live, is not a state hospitable to wildlife. Some cities have coyote-killing contests. The excuse is that coyotes are a threat to cattle. In reality, coyotes kill very few cattle, and slaughtering coyotes has no effect on predation rates. In fact, such contests may even cause the remaining coyotes to increase their rate of reproduction. And the prize for the team that slaughters the most coyotes over the weekend? A case of beer. Attempts to ban coyote killing contests in this state were rejected by our wonderful legislature.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a wolf was killed by a mighty hunter just outside the boundary of Yellowstone National Park, where approximately 100 gray wolves live in peace, safe from fools with rifles. The unfortunate animal -- an alpha wolf -- had left the park, and was killed by a macho person with a high-powered rifle. No matter that this wolf was wearing a clearly visible radio-tracking collar. Loss of one of the alpha wolves in a pack frequently results in the demise of the entire pack.

Two highly endangered Mexican gray wolves -- which are illegal to shoot at any time or

place -- recently were found killed. One of them was the alpha male of his pack. Their cause of death is under investigation, but I'd bet my house they were killed by hunters or ranchers.

My heart breaks when I read about the murder of Satao, a magnificent bull elephant who had lived more than 50 years. He was killed, as are so many African elephants, so the Chinese can enjoy their trinkets of ivory. According to National Geographic, "Conservationists estimate that 30,000 to 38,000 elephants are poached annually for their ivory, which is shuttled out of West African and, increasingly, East African seaports en route mainly to China and other Asian consumer countries such as Thailand."

Money, it seems, trumps everything else in this world. For enough money, anything can be bought -- wildlife, glorious landscapes, politicians. It makes me ill to see what our world has become. And now that the Republicans control both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, I fully expect the attacks on our environment and wildlife to grow even worse. I am very afraid for our country. Our precious wilderness areas

and the wildlife who live there must be protected. They are not commodities to be sold to the highest bidder. Public lands and national forests belong to the people of the United States, not to oil companies, ranchers or any other group wishing to pillage these natural wonders for their own financial gain.

Wildlife Under Attack

I am sickened and disgusted by the current war on wildlife. From coyote killing contests to trophy hunting of magnificent bears, the slaughter never stops.

How can anybody take pleasure in slaughtering animals that mean no harm to anyone? Hunting deer or other animals to provide food for one's family is somewhat understandable. At least then the animal's life is not wasted. But shooting a wolf, bear or mountain lion for fun, or to make a rug, is just sick. And just as bad are the Facebook photos of the grinning cretins proudly posing with their trophies. Who can possibly consider this to be fun? I even saw a picture of a naked mighty hunter, posing as he straddled a beautiful but dead bear. Can you say 'pervert'?

How about the picture of the newlywed couple proudly posing with a dead zebra they had just shot, or the family that paid tens of thousands of dollars for the right to murder a gorgeous male lion?

I never will understand how anyone can kill an animal -- be it bird or bear, wolf or wolverine -- for fun. The Albuquerque newspaper ran a photo a few months ago with an article about the popularity of hunting classes for young people. The photo showed a teenage girl posing proudly with a sand hill crane she had shot. Why did she murder a sand hill crane? These beautiful, graceful birds are no threat to people. They eat corn and other grains. And they are not consumed by humans. So why did this girl feel it was OK to kill this bird?

New Mexico, where I live, is not a state hospitable to wildlife. Some cities have coyote-killing contests. The excuse is that coyotes are a threat to cattle. In reality, coyotes kill very few cattle, and slaughtering coyotes has no effect on predation rates. In fact, such contests may even cause the remaining coyotes to increase their rate of reproduction. And the prize for the team that slaughters the most coyotes over the weekend? A case of beer. Attempts to ban coyote killing contests in this state were rejected by our wonderful legislature.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a wolf was killed by a mighty hunter just outside the boundary of Yellowstone National Park, where approximately 100 gray wolves live in peace, safe from fools with rifles. The unfortunate animal -- an alpha wolf -- had left the park, and was killed by a macho person with a high-powered rifle. No matter that this wolf was wearing a clearly visible radio-tracking collar. Loss of one of the alpha wolves in a pack frequently results in the demise of the entire pack.

Two highly endangered Mexican gray wolves -- which are illegal to shoot at any time or place -- recently were found killed. One of them was the alpha male of his pack. Their cause of death is under investigation, but I'd bet my house they were killed by hunters or ranchers.

My heart breaks when I read about the murder of Satao, a magnificent bull elephant who had lived more than 50 years. He was killed, as are so many African elephants, so the Chinese can enjoy their trinkets of ivory. According to National Geographic, "Conservationists estimate that 30,000 to 38,000 elephants are poached annually for their ivory, which is shuttled out of West African and, increasingly, East African seaports en route mainly to China and other Asian consumer countries such as Thailand."

Money, it seems, trumps everything else in this world. For enough money, anything can be bought -- wildlife, glorious landscapes, politicians. It makes me ill to see what our world has become. And now that the Republicans control both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, I fully expect the attacks on our environment and wildlife to grow even worse. I am very afraid for our country.

Winter Wildlife in Yellowstone

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend several days in Montana's Yellowstone National Park on a wildlife viewing trip.

Although I really dislike cold weather and snow, this trip was so amazing that I wasn't at all bothered by the cold. Much of the park, including the very popular Old Faithful geyser area, was closed to all vehicle traffic except for escorted snow machine tours and special vehicles known as snow coaches. These machines come in two varieties. One has treads and several small wheels on both the front and back; the other has treads in back and skis on the front. Regular vehicles, even those with four-wheel drive, would not be able to navigate the groomed but unplowed roads.

As a result of the road closures, the crowds that typically flood the park during the summer were absent. One morning, as I walked near Old Faithful, I realized that I could neither see nor hear another person. It was as if I had the park to myself.

We were blessed with clear skies, calm winds and not-too-cold temperatures during the majority of our trip. Unfortunately, our time at Old Faithful was marked by overcast weather, which made photographing the geyser's eruptions of gray steam against a gray sky less dramatic than hoped. But the scenery of the park is magnificent: snow-capped mountains; ice-covered trees; bubbling, boiling pools of water and mud; pristine snow; frozen rivers, and of course, the wildlife. We saw herds of bison, some clearing snow with their massive, 250-pound heads, to get to the grass beneath. We spotted bald and golden eagles, numerous pronghorn antelope, big horn sheep, elk, coyotes, red fox, mule deer and, far in the distance, a couple of wolves feeding on an animal carcass.


I also was blessed to travel with a dozen wonderful people. There were two couples from Australia, an 88-year-old retired accountant with her attorney daughter, a young widower from Miami (born in Argentina), a retired Navy meteorologist, and other couples and solo travelers. It was a delightful group of travelers. And our group leaders were experts in the biology, geology and history of Yellowstone and its inhabitants.

I am so glad I got to experience Yellowstone in winter. We were treated to video of the park's wolves shot by a wonderful filmmaker, as well as photos taken by the park's original winter-keeper over his 40 years of living in the park. And I tried snowshoeing for the first time. Although apprehensive at first, I just had to try my hand at this novel way of exploring some of the park's trails.

As the guy in the rental shop said, "If you can walk, you can snowshoe." And he was correct. It took just a few minutes to feel comfortable with a large plastic rectangle -- with what looked like saw blades on the bottom -- strapped to each foot. I also bought a pair of Yaktrax, removable devices that make it easier and safer to walk on packed snow and ice.

My biggest disappointment was not having been able to get a closer view of some of the park's wolves. They are reclusive by nature, but one of the guides has had a close encounter with a wolf in the past. Alas, that didn't happen during my trip. But just seeing them through a spotting scope was still a thrill.

This trip was sponsored by the National Geographic Society, and I definitely will look into future NatGeo-sponsored trips for future travels. Everything was well planned, and even a couple of mechanical problems with the snow coaches were handled promptly and with minimal inconvenience to the travelers. I would love to revisit Yellowstone during the spring and fall, when the park retains some of its serenity and visitors can experience a different view of this beautiful place.