I have been to over 40 National Wildlife Refuges, mostly in the Western United States. And, Imperial NWR had been my favorite. Had been. Now it is a sad reminder of what it was.
Two things have changed. First, someone in the NWR System approved the roundup and slaughter of 350 Feral Burros from the Refuge. This represented about 90% of the Refuge population of Burros and 10% of the US population of Burros.
The NWR System was established in 1903 by Teddy Roosevelt to protect wildlife. The slaughter of 350 large mammals certainly seems counter to that purpose. I could go on about the "political" aspects of this, but I'll just say this:
Of all my wildlife photos, two photos of Burros from Imperial NWR have been customer favorites. Here they are:
 |
| Feral Burro Family |
 |
| Feral Burros walking |
In all likelihood, these beautiful Burros shown in the photos above are now dead, killed by the very people entrusted to protect them.
The second aspect of this Sad Story is that the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge has become a recreational area. In my three days there (this week) I saw NO Feral Burros and NO Desert Bighorn Sheep. No Deer. Not even a Jackrabbit. What I saw were a dozen or more ATVs, ten or so Dirt Bikers, and a ten car Jeep party all buzzing through the Refuge on its only road.
Here are a couple of Bighorn photos I have taken in the past from Imperial:
 |
| Desert Bighorn Ram |
 |
| Desert Bighorn Ewe |
But this trip: NONE
Imperial NWR is no longer a quiet, pristine, beautiful site where a lover of wildlife can usually find Burros and Bighorns. Not even a Jackrabbit will go within a mile of that road now.
I suspect it will be a long time before I go back to Imperial ---------- IF EVER.
No comments:
Post a Comment