DANBURY, CONN. — As a lobbyist and conservation advocate, 7-year-old Atka travels the region in a mini-van wherever his presence will make a difference.

At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, the Arctic gray wolf will be at Western Connecticut State University as part of a series of events dedicated to Earth Week and sponsored by WCSU Roots & Shoots. His visit will begin with a 30-minute lecture focusing on wolf mythology, ecology and biology and end with Atka’s being led through the Student Center Theater on the Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event is free and open to the public.

Atka lives with 27 other wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, N.Y., a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote wolf conservation by teaching about wolves, their function in nature and the human role in protecting their future.

“We hope that people realize that wolves in the wild are not dangerous to people,” said Spencer Wilhelm, operations manager at the center. “They all have an important role in creating healthy eco-systems. They make terrible pets. Everyone can do something every day to make the world a better place – that’s what we’re trying to teach people.”

Brought to the center when he was just eight days old, Atka was bottled-fed and hand-raised. Although Wilhelm makes it clear that Atka is a wild animal that cannot be touched or cuddled with, he also is not a ferocious man-eater.

“The wolf is not what you read about — ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ is not accurate,” Wilhelm said. “They are a very misunderstood animal.”

Last year, Atka visited 140 places, including schools, libraries and museums. “He’s out trying to be a lobbyist with certain members of Congress to change the aerial hunting laws,” Wilhelm said. “If there’s educational value, then Atka can go.”

Although wolves are not indigenous to the Northeast, Wilhelm said several thousand years ago, about 250,000 wolves roamed the continental United States. That number dropped to an

estimated 600 by 1970. Because of conservation efforts, Wilhelm said that number is now around 6,000 in the U.S., with the bulk of the population in the Western Great Lakes region, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

Of the 28 wolves at the South Salem center, four of them, including Atka, are ambassador wolves used to teach the public.

“Everything in nature is connected. Wolves are kind of an umbrella species,” Wilhelm said. “They help maintain a healthy eco-system by eliminating animals such as deer and elk and keeping them at a stable level. By keeping these populations down, they help plant life, and it encourages a healthier population of deer and elk as they cull out the weak ones.”

Other Earth Day events scheduled on the Midtown campus:

• Wednesday, April 22, 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.: “WCSU Roots & Shoots Earth Day Fair,” will be held outside the Midtown campus Student Center.

• Wednesday, April 22, 2:50 to 4 p.m.: Earth Day clean-up. Meet outside the Student Center.

• Wednesday, April 22, 4 p.m.: Tree Planting — a native white pine — outside the Student Parking Garage on Osborne Street and following the clean-up.

• Thursday, April 23, 6 p.m.: Zoe Weil, author of “Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life,” will hold a lecture in the Student Center Theater.

All of the events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the WCSU Roots & Shoots office at (203) 837-3260.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.