Wildlife agents encourage wolf precautions
by A1C Jack Sanders, JBER PAO, The Official Web Site of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, 11/18/2010 [here]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Members of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Wildlife Conservation team are asking base residents to increase their personal safety measures and responsibilities regarding safety from wolves.
According to wildlife agents, due to past incidents with local wolf packs there is a need for those venturing outdoors to take safety precautions.
“If you’re going to go walk your dog, minimize your time in remote areas,” said Herman Griese, Wildlife biologist with the 673d Civil Engineer Group. “Those trails through the woods are appealing and have great scenery that runners like, but you might want to stay to a well-used road.”
Griese reminds everyone that when walking pets like dogs, which in the past have been the focus of wolf attacks, to keep them on a leash.
“We just had an incident involving wolves recently over by Fish Lake, but thankfully that individual was able to avoid harm and I think that’s partially because he had control of his dog,” Griese said.
While encounters with wolves are rare for most base patrons, the chances of a wolf encounter dramatically increases when taking those remote scenic trails. … [more]