Wolves attack and kill teacher in Chignik

[Dand]

Teacher likely killed by wolves, troopers say
CHIGNIK LAKE: Evidence points to attack by two or three animals, troopers say.
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com
Published: March 11th, 2010 10:52 PM
Last Modified: March 11th, 2010 10:53 PM
Alaska State Troopers on Thursday concluded a woman found dead in Chignik Lake early this week was most likely killed in a wolf attack, and state authorities were headed there to try to capture or kill the animals.

Candice Berner, 32, appeared to have been killed Monday evening during a run along a remote road outside the Alaska Peninsula community, according to troopers.

The state medical examiner concluded, following an autopsy Thursday morning, that the cause of death was "multiple injuries due to animal mauling." Based on interviews with biologists and villagers in Chignik Lake, troopers concluded wolves were the animals most likely responsible, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said in a statement.

The state Department of Fish and Game still wants to conduct DNA testing to help study the incident, but troopers are convinced it was a wolf attack, troopers director Col. Audie Holloway said.

"We are as close to 100 percent certain as you can be," Holloway said.

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http://www.adn.com/2010/03/11/1179368/teacher-likely-killed-by-wolves.html
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And to think a group of us just had a 2 day meeting Mar 3 & 4 where we composed a letter to the Alaska Board of Game requesting predator control for this area. I think the Board passed it too. Its been a long standing issue that bears and wolves have decimated the moose and caribou in the area but we had no idea the threat was this bad. We really grilled several Federal Agencies asking them to begin preparing for predator control ASAP. I hope they take us seriously now. One of our group is an air taxi pilot who knows many of the people involved - he called me with some of these details well before they were confirmed and made it into the news.

[Graybeard]

Folks long ago learned the dangers of having wolves, mountain lions and bears living too close to large human populations. As a result they removed the predators and solved the problem of them killing people and their animals.

Now many generations later bunny lovers have forgotten the lessons learned long ago and have forced the reintroduction of species into places where there really is no proper biological nitch for them anymore. That can only result in what happened here and is beginning to happen with more frequency all over the new introduction areas.

Humans and wolves, cougers and bears don't really do well in too close proximity to each other.

[Sourdough]

The villagers are out in force looking for wolves, and they will shoot all wolves on sight.  The state also announced this morning that Fish and Game are on the way out there with teams to search and shoot by air the offending pack of wolves.

The people of Alaska have been saying for years we need to cut down on the number of wolves in the state.  Defenders Of Wildlife and other groups are fighting us at every turn.  For decades the guides had been keeping their hunting areas clear of wolves by shooting them from the air, but the environmental groups got a law passed to stop the guides from doing that.  Now only state approved and hired gunner crews are allowed to shoot from the air.  And still when we try and put aerial gunners up to remove wolves in certain areas we are stopped by law suites again and again. 

I'd like to drop about 250 wolves in Pricellia Ferrells back yard in Connecticut, see how she likes it.

[Dee]

Well, I learned my lesson the other day trying to solve a pit bull runnin loose in the neighborhood by calling authorities. Maybe you guys need to revert to the shoot shovel and shut up method, as I have had to do. It was frustrating listening to someone outside my neighborhood trying to tell me that the pit wasn't causing any problems.
You guys up there know what you need and what you don't need. Seems to me, your not gonna get much help, and are just gonna have to handle it. Good luck. I'm on your side.

[Dand]

I think predator control is full bore ahead right now. Laws or no laws. A lot of years they don't have enough snow to hunt the wolves with snogos around there. And a lot of people don't have them. But right now we have a cold spell and good snow. I heard 2 pilots I know in Naknek headed down Wednesday. Their dads were serious wolfers. I know the fish and game guy pretty well. VERY Good man. He is the same guy that got roasted by the public when he did the wolf control around Cold Bay and snuffed some pups. Poor guy, I think the State should have stood up for him more during that fuss. They did give him a break in Juneau for a while and he volunteered to come back to the Alaska Peninsula.

It drives me nuts that MSNBC says the coroner report is "inconclusive". I talked to a pilot friend on Wednesday and he said the tracks at the scene were unmistakable in the fresh snow. So sad for this fine energetic young woman helping our most needy kids.

I actually wrote to Congressman Young and suggested we do a brown bear and wolf transplant to California. His staffer wrote back and said he really enjoyed the suggestion but it wasn't likely to get legs. California needs a few brown bears to go with their flag. Or change their flag to a bunch of pansies.

[Dand]

I know Virginia Aleck quoted below. She's a good lady.

Wolves suspected in attack to be tested
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com
Published: March 16th, 2010 08:36 PM
Last Modified: March 16th, 2010 08:37 PM
Two wolves state officials have killed were being transported to the state wildlife veterinarian in Fairbanks on Tuesday for testing to determine if they were, in fact, the animals that killed a teacher out jogging near Chignik Lake last week, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.

The wolves, shot from a helicopter in the Chignik drainage, matched the descriptions of wolves seen at the site where 32-year-old Candice Berner, a special-education teacher based in Perryville, was attacked and killed on a remote road outside town on March 8, according to Fish and Game.

Alaska State Troopers say evidence at the scene indicated at least two or three wolves were involved in the attack, which left Berner's body partially predated. It has not been made clear how many wolves Fish and Game intends to kill.

Along with troopers and their helicopter, a Fish and Game biologist, Lem Butler, remains in the Alaska Peninsula community seeking out other wolves that might have been involved. Fish and Game spokeswoman Jennifer Yuhas said in an e-mail that Butler reported Tuesday no more wolves had been killed and that he'd come across many types of tracks but none of them belonging to wolves.

The two wolves killed Monday were to be forensically examined by the state wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen, to determine if they are the animals that killed Berner, Yuhas said.

Beckmen will compare measurements of the wolves' teeth to the bite marks found on Berner's body, she said. Officials also plan to compare DNA from the wolves to samples taken last week from Berner's body

The wolves will be tested for disease, including distemper and rabies, Yuhas said. The wolves' brains will be sent to the Alaska Virology Laboratory in Fairbanks to be studied for rabies, which attacks the nervous system and is endemic among foxes and sometimes found in wolves in the Chignik Lake area, she said.

"Given the rarity of such incidents there is some speculation as to the health of the animals involved," Yuhas said.

Villagers in Chignik Lake say they haven't been much consoled by the deaths of just the two wolves.

"There is still more concern," said Virginia Aleck, a village elder. "I don't think it will ever be the same again."

Villagers know there are more than two wolves in the pack and that the caribou and moose they eat are still scarce, Aleck said. Kids continue to be escorted to school, and armed local hunters are still patrolling town watching for wolves, she said.

Chignik Lake is a predominantly Alutiiq fishing village on the Alaska Peninsula, some 475 miles southwest of Anchorage. Its school mascot is the wolf, though locals are considering a change since Berner's death, Aleck said. Villagers have taken down a stuffed wolf that had been in the school lobby, she said.

"A mascot is something you look up to, something heroic," Aleck said. "This guy is not a role model in my heart or in my mind anymore. He took a human life."


Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/03/16/1186350/tests-being-done-on-wolves-suspected.html#ixzz0iQ173gQK

[Dand]

I saw on TV news tonight that the 2 wolves killed were not rabid. More tests are to be done to learn more about the wolves, see if they can find any evidence that they are the ones that killed the teacher.

The hunt for the rest of the pack has been suspended for now.