An Ode to Journey (OR7): Don't Stop Believing

California's only "official" gray wolf runs with the coyotes

This page was published 11 years ago. Find the latest on Earthjustice’s work.

Oh, Journey, we know you are lonely. We know you have been searching for that special girl, maybe even from California. The search has been long—months long. We know you broke the pack rules, crossed the state of Oregon and then the California state border looking for love and made national news doing it.

But recent reports say you’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd. They say you’ve traded in your lone wolf status and are hanging with … the coyotes.

I know they are fun. I hear them often, laughing and carrying on all hours of the night. But, Journey, you are not going to find that special gal hanging with those California cavorters. If you aren’t careful and officials see hybrid babies of yours and one of those coyotes, the California Department of Fish and Game has to kill them.

You see, being a gray wolf you are an endangered species and humans are charged with protecting your kind, and that includes the next generations of pups. We have faith that you can find one of YOUR kind and do right by the family you left in Oregon. Don’t stop believin’ that perfect girl is out there, even if you have to settle for one of the Oregon ladies. On this Endangered Species Day, our hearts are with you.

Wolf track in snow. (Linda Hay / DFG)

Kari Birdseye worked at Earthjustice from 2011–2016, as a national press secretary and on advocacy campaigns protecting our health and the environment from the impacts of pesticides and toxic chemicals.

The California Regional Office fights for the rights of all to a healthy environment regardless of where in the state they live; we fight to protect the magnificent natural spaces and wildlife found in California; and we fight to transition California to a zero-emissions future where cars, trucks, buildings, and power plants run on clean energy, not fossil fuels.