TAKAYA

CHEK NEWS PHOTO

Takaya,

they bring news of your death;

shot by a trophy hunter,

mourned by us all.

For seven years

you lived on your island.

This past winter we heard your lonely howls.

When you swam across 

and trotted down a city sidewalk,

I feared for your life,

knew your days were numbered,

hoped for the best.

You were likely looking

for a mate.

Instead, you met your end,

a bullet sent by

a hunter's gun.

My heart breaks,

and I'm not

the only one.

Photos by TJ Watts, taken two days before Takaya

was killed - the last photos of him alive.

He looks apprehensive - this is a new territory for him,

not his island home.

Takaya's last smile

For seven years Takaya lived on Discovery Island, across from Victoria. This winter, people heard him howling. He sounded lonely. In late January, he swam across, trotting down a street in James Bay. He was tranquilized and moved to a wilderness area (which was also a hunting area.) He was killed 50 miles from where they released him.

So many people loved this wolf and mourn his loss. It's the same old story: pushed out of shrinking habitat, when a wild creature comes into contact with humans, it is always the wild creature who loses.

When will we stop killing these beautiful creatures?