Wolf Watchers

The Wolf Watchers - animal obsession in the 21st century

Rick stands knee-deep in snow, the freezing air steaming around him during a blizzard. He chooses to spend his retirement observing wolf packs, surrounded by the breathtaking backdrop of Yellowstone National Park. He has worked his way up and down the same valley everyday for the last 7 years and is one of a new breed of (obsessed?) nature enthusiasts, the wolf watchers……… The modern era, capitalism and industrialization, saw the American relationship with nature and animals change at a never before seen rate. Our relationship with animals is now idealized and distorted, and we constantly mourn their loss from our everyday lives. Although we keep the animal in a state of perpetual dying by representations in mass media globally, zoos, parks and pets, these actions are more to further enforce their marginalization and subjugation to human authority. The Yellowstone wolf watchers seek out their contact in the more authentic setting of Yellowstone National Park, even though this is not the definition of wilderness they believe it to be. The wolf watchers are under the same cultural influences that occur throughout society and result in their scopophilic fascination with wolves, but this voyeurism also facilitates a contribution to a unique scientific study of this historically mythologized and only recently reintroduced animal. Rick stands knee-deep in snow, the freezing air steaming around him during a blizzard. He chooses to spend his retirement observing wo... more

JoAnneYoung

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