Takaya, beloved by Vancouver Island residents,
killed by a hunter March 24, 2020
TJ Watts photo
CHEK News photo
For eight years, you loved me,
watched me, told stories about me,
listened to my songs.
I was your connection
to the wild,
to Mystery,
to a world in which you have
forgotten you belong.
You love wolves, you say,
yet hunters are allowed
to kill us every year.
"It's legal," they justify.
But is it right?
Of you, my kind
lives in great fear.
We live in peace.
We stay as far away from Man
as we can.
But you have left us little space
in which to be.
And every time there is a choice
of territorial rights,
you choose you
and murder me.
That day, I was
enjoying the sun.
I had not eaten yet;
the day had just begun.
I smelled his presence,
but other humans
had been kind.
The bullet hit me with such shock.
He left only my tag
behind.
I see some of you have tears
that I am gone.
It was prescience,
the lonely notes
you heard last winter
in my song.
Takaya's last smile, taken
two days before he was killed
TJ Watts photo - the last photos
taken of him alive -
so relaxed and trusting
His tag
Takaya lived for eight years on a small island within swimming distance of Victoria. All this past winter, people heard his lonely howls. In March, whether looking for food or seeking a mate, he swam to the city and trotted down the city street. I feared for him. Because he was so beloved, they did not dare to kill him, as is the usual case in such situations. They tranquilized him and released him in unfamiliar territory, which usually spells a death sentence for a wolf, in other wolves' territory. But, as usual, it was a human, a trophy hunter, who killed him. Hunters are allowed to kill two wolves a year.
We know it was Takaya, because he was the only wolf on Vancouver Island with a yellow tag. It broke the hearts of many. WHEN will humans evolve enough to allow wild creatures the same right to live we claim for ourselves? Asking for my friend Takaya.
This is beyond beautiful, Sherry.💝👏 I must confess I am a little teary-eyed and love;
ReplyDelete"I see some of you have tears
that I am gone.
It was prescience,
the lonely notes
you heard last winter
in my song."
A heart-wrenching story - the bones of which speak of the mythical, the unimaginable to our minds ....
ReplyDeletehow is it, I ask myself, that we continue to make mistakes in our decisions, such epic mistakes, without consideration of the well being of others -
we continue to place our needs above those of the planet and its creatures ...
why the hell Tayaka couldn't have been re-located to a more familiar environment like the one he called home for his entire life is just stupid - senseless. It's beyond frustrating. Angering.
I've read elsewhere from the article I'm sharing below, that his remains are to supposed to be delivered to First Nations peoples for an appropriate ceremonial burial/honouring. I *do* hope this is done -
it's the very least we can do to celebrate his life - to honour and remember, and maybe just walk with more awareness - that we, as a HUMAN species, are of little consequence in the
magnitude and scope of this planet, despite our terrifying reach in infecting it, destroying it.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/27/canada-mourns-takaya-the-lone-sea-wolf-whose-spirit-captured-the-world-aoe
I hope he is buried by First Nations, too. They have always believed he is one of their chiefs, as he appeared after the man's death on that island.
DeleteLovely photos and a lovely poem, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteSherry, this is a heart breaker. I am hurting also to here hunting as allowed on the Island. May he RIP and be found again in Doggie Heaven
ReplyDelete..
This breaks my heart. We humans are the beasts who all life should fear.
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad. I can understand people being heartbroken about such a lack of care. Your words do him justice and speak the truth. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo incredibly sad! And wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia wild dingoes are protected in the wild but are not in urban environments. It is a pity the same rule does not apply to wolves in Canada and the USA. Mind you a few country people have them as pets that have somehow become tame!
ReplyDeleteOh god. This is so sad. I feel so upset for the lovely creature now. Cant say anything about such humans ..
ReplyDeleteWith so much heartache the world over, this is one story too much for my fragile heart.
ReplyDeleteYou spoken in his voice so very well. A heart breaking poem to read....and then to see it reiterated in your explanation. So very sad.
ReplyDeleteThis is so heartbreaking. I'll never understand a human's need to kill and call it a sport. I grieve for your dear wolf.
ReplyDeleteOh.... One of your very best. You are truly a voice for the wild.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed this when it was posted. Not sorry I read it, and yes, I have tears in my eyes...
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
f those f'n f'd up f'heads. sorry, Sherry ~
ReplyDeleteHow can Canada allow wolves to be hunted? I'm horrified and dismayed.....
ReplyDeleteTakaya had such a domestic look -- certainly as familiar a bridge between human and wild. Such a loss. You echo his lonely last notes here so sadly and well.
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad Sherry. I don't understand why this had to play out the way it did.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if his remains made it to the First Nation people. I hope so.