Pack showing little fear of people, wildlife specialist says
Larry Pynn / Vancouver Sun
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is renowned for surfing, storm watching, and romantic beach and rainforest walks. Now there’s a potential new activity for visitors — close-up viewing of wolves — and that has park staff worried.
“I’m not in panic mode,” said Todd Windle, the park’s human-wildlife conflict specialist. “But I want to remind people of what’s going on, that there are these new animals…and they may be starting down the path to habituation.”
In an interview Monday, Windle explained that a pack of five wolves was first confirmed last November in the park on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Nothing particularly surprising about that; another pack of three wolves has existed in the park near Tofino for up to two years.
Concerns were raised within the last month, however, when members of this new pack showed little fear while being observed by staff and the public as close as 50 metres away on a deactivated road near Wickaninnish Beach interpretive centre.
“They were just lying down in the open,” Windle said. “That’s unusual to lie in the open where they could be seen so easily. And they didn’t flee right away.”
Wolves that lose their fear can become a problem should they try to obtain food from humans, Windle said. They may also become more vulnerable to being hit by motor vehicles or being shot once they step outside park boundaries.
Hunters are permitted to kill three wolves apiece during open seasons on Vancouver Island.
Windle advises park visitors to keep moving and not to approach wolves for a better photograph and to even shout, use a marine airhorn, or toss rocks should they approach. Motorists can also honk their horns if wolves are observed alongside the highway.
“We are trying to teach them that humans are not the safest animals out there. We mean danger. Unfortunately, that’s just the way we are.”
A man was severely bitten by a wolf in 2000 while sleeping outdoors in his sleeping bag at Vargas Island in Clayoquot Sound, north of Tofino. He received more than 50 stitches to his scalp. Two young wolves who had a history of being fed by humans were killed.
In Banff National Park earlier this month, officials expressed concern that a cooked turkey carcass had deliberately been left by the roadside by someone hoping to getting a better photograph. The maximum fine for feeding wildlife is $25,000.
Research in Pacific Rim shows that wolves’ main prey is black-tailed deer, river otters, harbour seals and raccoons. But they are also known to take black bears, as well as mink, birds, sea lions and smaller marine life such as shore crabs and clams.
Dogs can also be preyed upon, both by wolves and cougars, emphasizing the need for owners to keep their pets on leash per park rules.
Windle noted that wolves are welcome in the park and form a vital role in the greater ecosystem, helping to prevent prey populations such as deer from growing out of control and wreaking havoc on the environment, including on young trees.
It’s not yet known what impact the new wolf pack is having on the other three wolves, but one member of the latter has gone missing, Windle said. One pack may displace the other or the two may join forces, he noted. Trail cameras are being used to track movements of the packs.
Visitors are urged to report wildlife sightings to 250-726-3500.