The Times-Standard
EUREKA — Long considered an icon of the wild, wolves capture the imagination and spark controversy. Their return to the mountains, old-growth forests and wild coastlines of the Pacific Northwest renews age-old questions about the value of wildlands and wildlife.
Join wildlife tracker and photographer David Moskowitz at the Sequoia Park Zoo at 6 p.m. Friday for an evening of photography and stories from wild landscapes across the Pacific Northwest about the life history, ecology and conservation of the region’s apex carnivore.
The free event will include a slide show, talk and book-signing. Moskowitz is the author of the newly published “Wolves in the Land of Salmon.” He will be signing books after the slide show, and signed copies will be available for purchase at the event.
”This book is the result of my close observation and exploration of these smart, complex creatures as they live, hunt and communicate across the vastness of the Pacific Northwest,” said Moskowitz.
”I’ll also discuss how I traced their biology and ecology through firsthand encounters and challenge assumptions about their role and the impact of even well-meaning human interventions.”
Moskowitz, a professional wildlife tracker, photographer and outdoor educator, has contributed his technical expertise to a wide variety of wildlife studies regionally and in the Canadian and U.S. Rocky Mountains, focusing on using tracking and other non-invasive methods to study wildlife ecology and promote conservation.He has worked on projects studying rare forest carnivores, wolves, elk, Caspian terns, desert plant ecology and trophic cascades (an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators).
He helped establish the Cascade Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project, a citizen-science effort to search for and monitor rare and sensitive wildlife in the Cascade Mountains and other Northwest wildlands.
The talk will take place in the zoo’s classroom in the Secrets of the Forest building at 6 p.m. There is no charge to attend, and both zoo members and non-members are invited. Enter through the main zoo gates.
”We are pleased to host Mr. Moskowitz at the zoo and hear the stories from his new book firsthand,” said Zoo Manager Gretchen Ziegler. “The story of wolves and grizzly bears in California will play an important role in our upcoming ‘Native Predators’ exhibits.”
Sequoia Park Zoo inspires conservation of the natural world by instilling wonder, respect and passion for wildlife. Established in 1907, Sequoia Park Zoo is the oldest zoo in California and one of the smallest accredited zoos in the country. It is located at 3414 W St. in Eureka.
For more information, visit www.sequoiaparkzoo.net.