December 22, 2016
- as seen by -Megan Maher and Julie Larsen Maher
We watch the wolf as she watches us.
She seems immune to the wintry weather with her thick fur flecked with copper, sand, and silver. We aren’t faring as well. Our fingers grow numb as we pass the camera back and forth photographing the world’s largest wild canid – the grey wolf (Canis lupis). This female is one of a sister pair of four-year-olds at Denmark’s Copenhagen Zoo.
In Scandinavia, where we are standing, it is uncommon to see a wolf in the wild. It is rare anywhere. According to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, wolves’ original worldwide range has been reduced by about one-third. They are regionally extinct in Denmark with only a few sightings in the country’s western areas, and less than 250 mature individuals remain in Sweden and Norway. Wolves and humans are at odds over livestock and game species, but changes in land management and laws have seen some wolf numbers rebound as they populate their former ranges.
We take this last picture as new snow begins to blanket us. The wolf trots away, blending in with the bark of her Nordic woodland home.