Wolves? Twilight? The Burke Museum? Yup, that’s right!

Do you like Twilight?  Then this post is for you!

Ok, so this post isn’t exactly about Twilight… it’s about wolves. (But if you read Twilight, you know that there are wolves galore!) The Burke Museum’s latest exhibit, Wolves and Wild Lands in the 21^st Century, opens on Saturday with an afternoon packed (wolf-packed?) with activities.

Image courtesy burkemuseum.org

 

The exhibit, which will remain at the Burke through the beginning of September, was developed by the International Wolf Center and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The exhibit will be travelling across the country to present a modern look at wolves in North America and the evolution of the relationship between wolves and humans. Additionally, The Burke Museum will add a section to the exhibit that focuses specifically on wolves in Washington State. While wolves are legally protected from hunting, humans continue to dictate the survival of wolf populations. Loss of land to development is currently the greatest threat to wolves in the wild. In fact, according to the Burke Blog, there are only about a dozen wolves in Washington State.

To learn more about wolves in Washington, be sure to check out Saturday’s 11:30 am presentation, “Wolves are Returning to Washington: the balancing act of recovery and managing conflicts” by Harriet Allen, endangered species manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Allen will be talking about the state’s work in developing a Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. For those more visually inclined, the Burke Museum will also have a live webcam of the Methow Wolf Pack!

And if you’re disappointed that I haven’t followed up on my promise to relate this post to Twilight, fear not. Presenting at 1 pm in the Burke Room is Roger Jackson, a Quileute tribal elder and member of the Tlokwali/Ceremonial Wolf Society, who will lecture on the historic relationships between wolves and the Quileute people and wolf symbolism in Pacific Northwest art and cultural traditions (which are far more enduring than the Twilight craze).

So this Saturday I suggest grabbing your wolf pack and heading to the Burke Museum!