I can't comment specifically on this very unfortunate event (other than to point out that it's essentially a freak occurrence).

But I do worry about the trend toward wearing earbuds during wilderness activities. It robs you of a vital sense.

Animals are very adept at knowing if you are aware of them and are actively paying attention to your surroundings. This body language gives you a substantial advantage, in many cases removing the "target of opportunity" factor.

They are?

I don't recall seeing any news articles that describes the woman running "virtually blind, deaf and dumb."

"Apparently she was running alone, listing to her IPod..."

I've seen these people on the street and paths, totally oblivious to what is going on around them: dogs, people, cars, bikes, etc. What would you call it when someone plugs their ears while running in a wilderness area??? Smart?

Actually, there's another word for people like that: Dinner. Why blame the wolves for scarfing up an easy meal?

Sue

I agree. Just this afternoon while out on a short 2 hour hike, we seen a few people on the trail with earphones pinned to their ears. This is a local trail with a very low threat level of animals, however in this case, I would be more worried of 2 legged predators on the trail...

Except the result will be a government program to destroy all the wolves - won't someone think of the children.
Or, in the land of the lawyer, hold the landholder/local council liable - and so force them to destroy all the wolves.

Cougar attacks happen a few times/year here. There have been a dozen fatalities recorded.
One recently attacked a child picking berries. The kid wasn't hurt, the mother shouted at the cat and it ran off.
The response by park rangers was to track down and kill two cougars, they admitted there was no evidence that these were the animal involved - but something must be done to reassure the local community.

I am sorry to hear of anybody getting attacked by dogs or by wolves.

There was a young woman from Toronto killed on a hiking trail in Nova Scotia last October, It was a couple of coyotes that killed her.
It is odd because coyotes usually avoid people. The trail also had other hikers on it.

I am thinking a big part of the problem is the coyotes, wolves, puma and bears have been getting a lot more used to people.

I know that some people do things like leave food that animals can get into (garbage?) and even feed them by hand in some cases.
Once you become a supplier of food you are not far from being seen as a food source yourself to a lot of these animals.

I do think the lack of hunting contributes but I can't say how much.

When I was younger people used to say that wolves never attacked people, but as an old fellow pointed out if a pack of wolves dragged somebody down out in the bush they likely wouldn't leave enough scraps to find.
That means the person would just be counted as missing.
We have enough people go missing that the old fellow's comment is worth thinking about.

"Apparently she was running alone, listing to her IPod..."
Then she was probably more likely to be a victim of an attack by a species of large ape, or running in front of a truck.


I'm willing to bet that the number of people killed by pet dogs is 1000x higher than that by wolves/coyotes/etc


We are moving into their territory, so there are a lot more contacts.


I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, the cost of that (apart from eye-water real estate prices) is that I have to keep trash locked up until the truck arrives and double bag any meat. I can't leave the windows open when I go out - and not because of crime.


Hence the quote above about them being smarter than us!
Heard a line from a park's dept guy once - they were trying new bear-proof trash cans. They have to hard for the bears to open, but simple enough that campers will use them.
Problem is, he said - there is significant overlap between the smartest bears and dumbest visitors.


Not sure, enough animals would have to have seen a kill to associate humans with danger.


Good point - there has never been a documented case of a wolf kill = the wolves ate all the witnesses!

A couple of updates from the Anchorage Daily News--

an article on the teacher, with quotes from her blog. she did have general awareness of danger from bears and wolves--

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/150677

a balanced discussion on how to deal with wolves in the wild--the writer favors protection zones around Denali National Park, and also killing the 2 or 3 who killed the teacher--

http://www.adn.com/2010/03/13/1182267/our-view-boundaries-and-wolves.html

So do any of the articles establish that the body had any wolf bites on it? (I haven't found any.)

Anything at all to confirm the wolves actually killed her and weren't just opportunistic scavengers?

That, as already suggested, it wasn't a "large primate" or mechanical object that killed her? Or even just an accident?


I don't see enough information in what we have to accept the "she was killed by wolves" as anything other than speculation. From the government response, though, I assume there was more probative evidence than we've gotten.

well, she was an athletic 32-year old, and a runner.
A March 10 story mentions wolf bites on her body--
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/09/1175725/wolf-blamed-in-death-of-villager.html

see also this story, http://www.adn.com/2010/03/10/1178020/residents-unnerved-by-pack-of.html
Troopers would not comment on the cause of death, saying the investigation is ongoing and that they are awaiting the results of the autopsy. Spokeswoman Megan Peters said the body showed signs of predation but declined to provide further details.

The body was found on regional corporation land within the borders of the Alaska Peninsula Wildlife Refuge and therefore was not in federal jurisdiction, said Bruce Woods, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"I don't think there's any decision yet as to whether it was predated before or after death," Woods said. "In other words, the (woman) might have died of something else and wolves might have found the body."

It is the case that an autopsy is yet to be performed.
the stories in the Daily News mention that bears are not yet out of their hibernation dens.