By: Cathy Ellis
A young female wolf which may be one reported in a couple of residential neighbourhoods in Cougar Creek last week was struck and killed on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Provincial wildlife officials say there has been recent wolf activity on the south side of the valley between Stewart Creek and the Nordic Centre, including reports of two wolves in the Peaks of Grassi and Larch neighbourhoods.
Jay Honeyman, a human-wildlife conflict biologist with Alberta Environment and Parks, said the wolves have shown no signs of aggression.
“Within the Larch residential area, we’ve been getting reports of wolves close to and around houses,” he said.
“There’s been a little bit of wolf activity up and around Stewart Creek and back and forth to the Nordic Centre, so it could be some of those guys wandering into town maybe.”
Honeyman said there’s a chance the young wolf killed on the highway on Thursday (Jan. 26) morning may be one of the wolves that’s been in town.
“We don’t know for sure,” he said.
The wolves are likely moving throughout the south side of the valley preying on elk from a couple of different herds.
Honeyman said there are also elk within town boundaries that may be seeking refuge from the wolves, and the wolves are following them in.
“It could be why the wolves are trucking around,” he said. “The wolves are fairly indifferent, and not showing aggression.”
Honeyman said elk coming into town is not a good thing for wolves or public safety, noting elk are herded away from playfields and playgrounds in the Three Sisters area whenever possible.
“We don’t want wildlife in town and by having elk in town we attract larger predators. It’s why we want elk in the corridors and habitat patches,” he said.
“We move them out of the areas, but we don’t have the capacity to do that everywhere in Canmore. It’s on the radar and we’re trying to figure out what our options might be.”
Meanwhile, Canmore residents are being urged to keep their dogs on a leash at all times and to make sure no food or garbage is left out.
“We don’t have any reports of them getting into anything, but the fact they’re walking around in a residential area, well, opportunity knocks,” Honeyman said.
Tyler McClure, Bow Valley WildSmart’s environmental educator, said the best way to deal with this is to be aware and proactive, noting it only takes one or two positive rewards (food) for wolves to come back again.
“It’s always a little unnerving when we start hearing about big carnivores coming into town and we need to take proactive measures to avoid drawing them into these areas,” he said.
“There’s a lot of issues we can imagine with attractants around homes, like recycling, pet food, and it could even be smaller animals like rabbits that obviously bring predators in.”
McClure said it’s also important to be prepared to encounter wildlife at anytime because they too call the Bow Valley home.
“We need to talk to our families, whether we’re close to schools or areas where adults and children and recreating, like the Nordic Centre,” he said, noting one way to be prepared is to travel in groups.
“One of the biggest parts of being prepared is bear spray. It can significantly reduce the severity of an encounter. It’s a very effective way to teach animals what they shouldn’t be doing. It sends a very clear message that it’s not OK to be too close to people.”
As for the wolf killed on the highway, Honeyman reminds drivers to stick to speed limits, pay extra attention at dawn and dusk and report carcasses on the road so they can be removed.
“Road kill animals are obviously attracting carnivores to the same road where elk and deer were initially killed. That puts the carnivore in danger of getting hit, which is what happened,” he said.
“We had three more elk killed by the east gate of Banff, and they were cleaned up over the course of a couple of days by a bunch of coyotes and ravens.”
The public is asked to report sightings of cougars and wolves by calling 403-591-7755.