An adult female wolf suffering from gunshot wounds for 10 days is lucky to be alive after she was found lying on the side of a road near the reserve where vandals released her on Dec. 31.
Granite, along with three other wolves, was cut loose from Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve by suspected animal rights activists.
Reserve owner Peter Schleifenbaum said the female wolf was likely shot at the same time Haida, the 7-year-old alpha male of the pack, was shot and killed on New Year’s Day.
She was shot twice, including once in her right rear thigh.
Daily sighting reports said Granite was suffering from some sort of injury, he said, because of the blood found in spots she had slept.
“We knew she was wounded,” he said. “We had seen pictures of the other two wolves and she was never with them and the beds we found contained blood.”
Vandals cut holes in both the inner and outer fences of the area where the wolves lived on New Year’s Eve.
Reserve staff had given up hope Granite would be found alive. Five days before she was found on the side of a road, reports from residents in the area confirmed only two wolves — the youngsters Logan and Lonestar.
An employee heading into work Thursday morning found the wolf weak and in pain.
“It was a surprise to find her and it’s an extremely lucky coincidence,” Schleifenbaum said.
A vet tending to the injured animal said she was in poor condition and thought Granite wouldn’t survive.
However, the resilient animal continues to improve as of Friday afternoon and Schleifenbaum is confident she’ll survive. “She’s not over the hill yet, but if I put money on it, it would be for her survival,” he said.
The two remaining wolves present no great danger to public safety. Because they are accustomed to life in captivity, they will struggle to survive if they aren’t found soon.
As their fat stores run down and they have to hunt for food — something the captive wolves are not used to doing. But daily sightings have led them to believe the two remaining wolves are still in good shape.
“One was seen at the entrance of the reserve (Friday),” he said. “They’ve been seen as far as 10 to 12 kilometres away. They’re doing OK. They left the enclosure in extremely good shape and that’s probably helping them right now.”
Schleifenbaum said they have a number of leads on who let the animals loose, but wouldn’t comment any further because the Ontario Provincial Police and Ministry of Natural Resources continue to investigate.
They suspect animal rights activists had a role in cutting through the fence, but don’t understand why the reserve would be a target, he said in a previous interview with Torstar News Service.