“When all the beasts are gone,

Man will die from a great loneliness of spirit;

For whatever happens to the beasts,

Will also happen to the man.”

  Chief Seattle

Spring has finally arrived in an extremely remote area of Alaska

And soon a pair of winter weary wolves emerge from their cozy den

Surely even our modern world would not consider begrudging them

A life in this uninhabited wild sanctuary until their days naturally end

The male wolf lovingly nuzzles his now pregnant mate

They playfully frolic all about in the sun and the snow

Suddenly the sound of a strange aircraft engine up above

Suddenly sheer hell and agony reign down on them below

The male wolf is killed instantly by these two aerial gunmen

The female lies gravely wounded helpless to now crawl away

The two happy gunmen soon land their aircraft and finish her off

What great sport these two humans have had this very joyous day

As these humans laugh shake hands and admire their day’s handiwork

Nine pups in the female’s body will never be born to live even one day

And even here in one of the last refuges on earth that these creatures had

With their lives – for human sport - these magnificent animals must pay

It seems that many modern day moose hunters in the vast state of Alaska

Were upset that timber wolves living there liked to eat moose quite naturally

So they cried foul and appealed to the politicians in this ‘last wolf refuge’ state

And once again Aerial Wolf Hunting is allowed thanks to Governor Murkowski

Even the most remote areas of our modern world have become far too savage

For earth’s endangered animals to continue living in peace and natural harmony

And although I’ve truly loved visiting majestic Alaska numerous times in my life

As long as this butchery continues it will never get another tourist dollar from me

Not that long ago, this type of human activity was against the law in Alaska; but its Governor has seen fit to cater to ‘sportsmen’ who have once again managed to brand earth’s endangered timber wolf  ‘a nuisance.’

Since the reinstatement of aerial hunting, hundreds of wolves have already been shot down from the sky – in an effort to artificially boost state moose and caribou populations – for the benefit of trophy sport hunters - who seldom eat their moose and caribou kills – and who don’t live in Alaska – so they can bag even larger trophies.

And the once great state of Alaska has also recently approved the baiting and killing of Grizzly bears. Unfortunately for Grizzlies, they happen to naturally eat moose and caribou, too.

Grizzly bears have already lost 80 percent of their home range – they simply cannot afford to lose any more.  This new Alaskan bear slaughtering program also allows the killing of sows and innocent young cubs.

Is There Not One Acre of Land Left

On God’s Once Very Vast Green Earth

That We Humans are Willing to Share

With Its Nonhuman Earthly Residents?

Are We Truly This Cold Hearted and Shallow?

And What Does the Future Hold For All of Us?

When Very Soon All the Wild Animals in the World,

Are Gone Forever – Due to Our Greed and Our Lust.

And now,

Both the sadness,

And the loneliness of my spirit,

 Increase with each and every passing day.

©2006, Ed Kostro