Autopsy Shows Teacher Likely Killed by Wolves

[bearpaw]

Troopers: Autopsy shows village teacher likely killed by wolves
Posted: Mar 11, 2010 4:04 PM PST
Updated: Mar 12, 2010 12:19 AM PST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A memorial service was held Thursday night for an itinerant teacher most likely killed by wolves.

An autopsy conducted Thursday shows that wolves likely killed 32-year-old Candice Berner in the southwest Alaska village of Chignik Lake, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Village residents found Berner's body a short distance from town on Monday.

Multiple injuries due to animal mauling caused Berner's death, trooper Col. Audie Holloway said, referencing a report from the state medical examiner's office.

Information from state biologists and village residents, along with the autopsy results, point to wolves as the likely killer, according to a trooper press release.

"We're confident this is a wolf attack," Holloway said in an interview Thursday. "To be extremely precise, it's an animal attack of some sort. But we think that all probability and the preponderance of all the information we have is that it was wolves."

"The tracks alongside the drag marks, and the fact that the drag marks had blood in them probably means that she was alive as they were moving her," Holloway said.

Berner's father says she fought back against her attackers.

"It's hard, it's really hard. I feel horrible, you know, empty," Robert Berner said.

"They said Candice put up a good fight," he said, "and there must have been two, maybe three of them."

"Her left arm was torn mostly off and both her thighs were badly, badly damaged. But her face was untouched and her body was in decent form," he said.

Robert Berner says he was told Candice was most likely attacked from behind.

Troopers and the Department of Fish and Game are coordinating a response and expect to have teams in the village Friday.

"The helicopter and the pilot are going to fly some biologists around to try to either capture or exterminate the wolves that are in that particular area," Holloway said.

But unless the wolves have a disease or rabies, Robert Berner doesn't want the animals to die.

"I don't feel any need for vengeance at all. Candice was a risk-taker, she's fearless…because they hadn't had one other incident in the history of the place she probably felt reasonably safe out there on that trail," he said.

Troopers say a downswing in the caribou herd and the moose population have likely pushed the wolves to the edge.

"I would say any time anyone ventures out into the wilderness, or even at your front door -- because a lot of people live in the wilderness -- is to always be in a position to protect yourself," said wildlife trooper Col. Gary Folger. "Interactions with wildlife can occur at any moment."

Berner, originally from Pennsylvania, lived in Perryville and traveled from town to town as a special education teacher for the Lake and Peninsula School District. She started teaching in Bush Alaska in August.

Chignik Lake is a community of about 105 people on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula, about 475 miles southwest of Anchorage.

[wolfbait]

"I don't feel any need for vengeance at all. Candice was a risk-taker, she's fearless…because they hadn't had one other incident in the history of the place she probably felt reasonably safe out there on that trail," he said.

I wonder what his feelings would be if he knew the truth, instead of the lies that Defenders of Wildlife spew?

[bearpaw]

wolfbait, I was think the exact same thing, he is living in a world of untruths about wolves. Must not know about all the problems....

[shoot-em-dead]

If the wolves killed because of a decline in caribou and moose populations and were driven to the edge. One would assume they killed for food, however the body was in decent form.  Just doesn't sound like the wolves were hungry to me.

[sako223]

Sounds similar to a recent coyote attack that killed the jogger.
With a 10 wolf per day limit season there shouldn't be a problem.
I think Bison have killed more people than wolves, and they are certainly responsible for more attacks than bears in yellowstone.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2009/08/03/10346191-sun.html

[Sporting_Man]

"I don't feel any need for vengeance at all. Candice was a risk-taker, she's fearless…because they hadn't had one other incident in the history of the place she probably felt reasonably safe out there on that trail,"

What a bunch of BS.
Well, I want mu vengeance, and the time will come.

[Elkaholic daWg]

  And the "defenders" whining begins....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
 200 Wolves Targeted




Last March, state officials used spotter planes and a helicopter to kill 84 wolves near the Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve. This year, they hope to kill around 200.





Please help us stop the slaughter of Alaska's wolves and protect other wildlife by supporting our efforts in the courts, on the ground and in Congress.


Donate today to help us raise $100,000 by Friday, March 19th.
 
Dear George,

This past weekend, Alaska officials began using spotter planes and a helicopter to track and kill roughly two hundred wolves in the Fortymile Region of Alaska near the Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve. [1]

State officials only recently announced their plan to kill roughly two-thirds of the wolves that range near these federal lands, but it's a grim reminder of last year's wolf-killing campaign in the area: state agents gunned down 84 wolves over the course of just six days last March. [2]

Please help us stop Alaska's out-of-control wolf killing through action on the ground, in the courts and in Congress.

Unfortunately, that's not the only bad news for Alaska's wolves.

In its latest meeting, the state's powerful Board of Game approved a plan to expand aerial gunning of wolves in other parts of the state and voted to allow wolf trapping just outside Denali National Park, ignoring the concerns of park officials.

The park's already-declining wolf population -- a major attraction for visitors to Denali -- could be hit especially hard. In the six-million-acre park, only around 65-70 wolves now remain, the lowest recorded number since radio-tracking began in the 1980s. [3] 

And -- because wolves can't see the boundaries between state and federal lands -- even Denali's famous Toklat pack will be at risk of death.

Help us safeguard wolves near Denali and the Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve and other imperiled wildlife.

Imagine it: wolves from our federal lands, chased to exhaustion outside of the Yukon-Charlie Rivers National Preserve by helicopters and gunned down with high-powered rifles or dying slow, painful deaths in traps should they wander from the safety of Denali National Park.

Please support our work on the ground in the courts and working with our partners in Congress to save these wolves.

Right now, we're advancing federal legislation to stop Alaska's brutal and scientifically unfounded aerial wolf-killing programs. And working with our sister organization, Defenders of Wildlife, we're fighting on the ground and in court to protect wildlife on our federal lands from Alaska's outrageous plans.

They've already gassed up the helicopters in Alaska. Please donate right now to help us save these wolves, other wildlife and their homes.

For the Wild Ones,


 
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife 
 
 
 

[bearpaw]

good post dawg....

If I had an airplane I would go help them out....

[whacker1]

They need to find the person responsible for putting the strychnine meatballs around spokane to kill neighborhood dogs and send him or her into wolf country with all the ingredients they need to duplicate their efforts on wolves.