Posted by Preston on December 10, 2005, 6:55 am Saskatchewan gov't denies wolf attack More than two weeks after the death of 22-year-old geological "There was no direct linkage to wolves," says Art Jones, a spokesman The evidence supporting a wolf attack is compelling. A spokesman with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Jones maintains that there has never been a documented case of a wolf After Carnegie's death, the Saskatchewan government issued a On Nov. 8, witnesses in a camp at Points North, an outpost with an Carnegie was on his fall co-op term in his third year of geological Two days before Carnegie was killed, he and his colleague, as well as Topping says both students were touring the area and taking pictures "They had real nice digital pictures of these wolves. I said, 'You "We had a big Airedale (terrier) in camp, and something killed the Topping says a local man who witnessed the grisly scene where the Among Canada's largest faculties of engineering, Waterloo is known In Thomson's mind, the incident in northern Saskatchewan raises some "We have students in fields that take them outside a lot," says Sander Geophysics has worked with numerous students from Waterloo and "We are in the process of an investigation which will result in Some in northern Saskatchewan remain unconvinced. "Can I see (a death) happening again? For sure," says Wayne Galloway, Galloway said that several substantial forest fires last summer Alberta and British Columbia operate sanctioned wolf hunts to help "The trappers are not trapping to any great extent and there are no In Saskatchewan, residents are only allowed to shoot wolves if they The RCMP estimates that the investigation into the death of Kenton
A geologist/prospector told me a month ago this would happen - said
there's no security at the garbage dumps and the wolves are getting
bolder, seeing the mine sites as food sources.
11/22/2005
engineering student Kenton Joel Carnegie in far northern
Saskatchewan, the province's Ministry of Environment refuses to
acknowledge -- at least publicly -- that Carnegie likely died as a
result of a wolf attack.
with the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment. "We don't have an
eyewitness account. All we know is that a young man was found dead
and he had been scavenged. We are unable to determine whether the man
was killed or whether he died of other causes."
Saskatchewan says that when Carnegie's body was found on Nov. 8, near
an entrance to a trail in Points North Landing, 500 km north of La
Ronge, Sask., there were wolves present, wolf tracks in the snow
around Carnegie's body, and bodily injuries consistent with those
from a "canine-type" animal. And initial results of an autopsy
revealed that Carnegie, a native of Oshawa, Ont., died as a result of
injuries sustained from an animal encounter. (This time of year, most
bears in the region are hibernating.)
killing anyone in North America. There was, however, a wolf attack on
a worker at the Key Lake Uranium facility less than a year ago
(T.N.M. Jan. 14-20) Fred Desjarlais, an employee of Cameco (CCO-T,
CCJ-N), was jogging back to his temporary residence, about 3 km away
from the main plant, when he was attacked. The burly Desjarlais
managed to fend off the animal until help arrived.
"predator attack" warning in the Points North area where conservation
officers later shot two wolves at a local dump. Meanwhile, a First
Nations band in the region issued a "wolf warning" and told residents
to remain inside after dark and not to travel alone.
airstrip, outfitters and lodges, told police that Carnegie went for a
walk on his own, telling those in camp he would return by 5 p.m. When
he hadn't arrived by 7 p.m., a search party was formed and Carnegie's
body was discovered soon after.
engineering at the University of Waterloo. He and a colleague were in
the Athabasca basin performing airborne surveying work for
Ottawa-based Sander Geophysics. The wilderness area hosts some of the
richest uranium deposits in the world, and with prices hovering
around $30 per lb., the commodity is generating a lot of interest.
some mechanics from Points Athabasca, Sask., ate an evening meal of
meatloaf and potatoes at a local lodge with Bill Topping, a part-time
car pilot (a guide who leads heavy trucks through the labyrinth of
dirt roads in northern Saskatchewan).
because their surveying equipment was grounded for reasons unknown to
him.
guys are lucky to be alive,'" recalls Topping. He told the students
about what he thinks was a wolf attack months earlier at the Paull
River Wilderness Camp, a few hundred kilometres south of Points North.
dog twenty paces from the (generator) and ate it. He ate forty-five
pounds of sixty-five-pound dog. He ate the paws, the claws, the
teeth," says Topping. "Wolves are the smartest creature in the bush."
body was found, said there were three separate places where it
appears Carnegie was knocked down in his attempts to escape.
for its small classes, but Carnegie's class was the smallest of the
lot, with only about 20 students. Waterloo Professor Neil Thomson,
who taught Carnegie in courses on fluid mechanics and advanced math,
says Carnegie was a "great kid to teach" and described him as bright
and compassionate. Carnegie had a radio show on the campus station
dubbed "Strange Brew."
questions for the Waterloo engineering program.
Thomson. "We have to ensure that our students are secure and safe
wherever they go . . . (Carnegie's death) will cause us time to pause
and reflect on what we actually do." He adds that engineering
students at Waterloo get a small amount of safety training. There has
never been another student death during a co-op placement in
Thomson's 18 years on staff.
is reviewing what happened at Points North.
procedures to prevent any similar incidents in the future," says
Luise Sander, co-president of Sander.
a wilderness lodge owner in northern Saskatchewan since 1981. "We've
got a bad situation here. We've got an animal that's having a
population increase as a predator, and a population decrease in their
food supply."
placed additional strain on the region's over-taxed ecosystem.
control the population. There are no such hunts in Saskatchewan.
Galloway says that in the 1950s and '60s various governments in
western Canada poisoned wolves in attempts to control the population,
though that practice has long since ceased.
other controls. And (the wolves) are protected," says Galloway.
prove to be a nuisance. This requires a permit unless wolves are
deemed to be an immediate threat to humans or livestock on private
property.
Carnegie will continue until about mid-December.
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