Posted by Trevor on December 12, 2005, 7:43 am, in reply to "Re: It'll happen here sometime" Call of the wild Activists defend them, but the first fatal attack in 100 years shows wolves aren't so cuddly after all CHARLIE GILLIS Every cause has its victories, but few can claim the success the pro-wolf lobby has enjoyed in the past couple of decades. Armed with a menu of well-conceived mantras (wolves avoid people, prefer not to kill livestock, and live ordered social lives that would put a lot of humans to shame), wildlife activists have effectively defanged the beasts in the popular imagination. It helped that, for all the myth-weaving about hungry predators lurking in wooded shadows, not a single North American has been killed by a non-rabid wolf in more than 100 years. Now, as forensic pathologists investigate the death of a 22-year-old man in the hinterlands of northern Saskatchewan, the unvarnished truth feels a lot less reassuring. While wolf attacks are indeed rare, the circumstances of Kenton Joel Carnegie's death suggest that relations between wolves and people are more troubled than originally thought -- and may worsen as wolf populations thrive and the human footprint expands throughout the wilderness. "We tend to think of these animals as playthings," says Tim Trottier, a biologist with Saskatchewan Environment who is familiar with the wolves implicated in the killing. "Most of us don't have much real-life experience to balance that out. We don't know how to behave around wild animals any more." Carnegie was certainly no wolf expert. A geological engineering student from Oshawa, Ont., who was on a co-op assignment from the University of Waterloo, he'd been working in a Cameco Corp. mining camp in Saskatchewan's far northeastern corner. Those familiar with the area say it's been home for several years to a group of grey wolves that scavenge food scraps and sometimes enjoy snacks tossed about by bored crew members. And like bears that feed from garbage dumps, wolves turn capricious once they become dependent on handouts, says Paul Paquet, a University of Calgary professor who studies wolves. Last December, a crew member at a camp near the site of Carnegie's death fought off a marauding wolf with the help of co-workers. Cameco responded quickly, directing employees to seal away garbage, stop feeding the creatures, and avoid walking alone in the bush. Whether the warnings reached Carnegie remains unclear, but on the evening of Nov. 8, he went out for a solitary walk and, two hours later, his badly mutilated body was found by a group of co-workers who went looking for him. While no one witnessed the attack, preliminary results from an autopsy pointed to a wolf attack, said an RCMP spokeswoman, and officers attending the scene found wolf tracks all around the body. Last week, provincial environment officials endorsed the shooting of two wolves so their stomach contents could be probed for traces of human DNA, and their blood tested for rabies. Results were expected later this week. With all signs pointing to a wolf attack, the incident represents an enormous setback for wildlife advocates. "People are going to make a real big deal out of this case," says Douglas Smith, leader of a project that has seen wolves from northern Alberta transferred to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Since 1995, Smith has been patiently assuring people in the area that they can peacefully co-exist with the wolves. In Canada, his counterparts have spread a similar message. Three years ago, staff at Jasper National Park in Alberta began opening "wooded corridors" for wolves to roam ever closer to the Jasper Park Lodge and its world renowned golf course. Supportive hotel officials touted the opportunity for their guests to "view a greater variety of wildlife" -- a line that might make their lawyers queasy today. The true wonder, however, may be that a fatality was so long coming. One study by Alaska's Fish and Game Department catalogued 23 encounters between humans and aggressive wolves from 1990 and 2000, none of which involved rabid animals. A handful were truly harrowing onslaughts, including a 1996 attack in Ontario's Algonquin Park, in which a wolf bit into the face of a sleeping 12-year-old boy, then dragged him two metres across the ground. A common thread running through recent attacks: improperly stored food or garbage. And while biologists have long railed against such carelessness, none of these incidents has dispelled what Paquet sees as a false sense of familiarity with wolves on the part of the public -- something for which he takes a measure of responsibility. "I think there's a misperception that wolves are approachable," he says, "because people see researchers on television approaching them." The best hope, Paquet adds, is that Kenton Carnegie's death will inspire long-overdue respect for an animal we've only recently learned not to loathe. "To have wild wolves living in wild areas is important," he says. "But let's not forget they are large, capable carnivores. They are predators that can kill, and we should avoid intruding on them as much possible." To comment, email letters@macleans.ca
Here is an article in the Canadian Magazine MacLeans. (The Canadian version of Time.)
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