Alberta Parks 'closely monitoring' continued wolf sightings in Kananaskis

A grey wolf that is possibly habituated to humans continues to be seen by visitors to Kananaskis Country, prompting concern from Alberta Parks.

The wolf, which has been spotted in campgrounds and along the road since spring, is an abnormal sight in the Bow Valley. The elusive predators are seldom seen up close.

As reports of the wolf continue to come in, Alberta Parks is "closely monitoring" the situation, conservation officer Nick Dykshoorn told CBC News.

He said the wolf is "showing some curious behaviour, not retreating when people are present, which is sort of an unusual behaviour for a wolf." He added that at one point somebody had to bear spray the wolf when it appeared to be following them.

Dykshoorn said conservation officers are applying aversive conditioning in an effort to keep the wolf away from people.

"Shouts, chalk balls, rubber bullets, bean bags, that sort of thing," he said. "Trying to give that animal a bad experience and trying to [teach them] that campgrounds, facility areas, places near humans, are not a pleasant place to be."

But those programs are designed primarily to manage bears. A wolf is very different from a black bear or a grizzly, with a significantly smaller size and completely different behaviour.

"It would not be recommended, except in extreme circumstances, to hit that thing with a rubber bullet because you certainly could, you know, cause some damage to it," he said. "In most of those cases, especially close range, the chalk ball would be preferred."

Dykshoorn emphasized that the goal is not to harm the animals but to make them associate humans with bad experiences.

"It's not so much of a pain stimulus, but these wild animals really don't like being touched," he said. "When you touch them with a paintball, it gets a really good reaction most of the time."

There's no way to track the elusive predator besides getting reports from people or coming across it during patrols, making it a difficult animal to effectively monitor.

"Without a collar on this wolf, without a way to track it … it's like chasing ghosts," he said.

Wolf management options

Unlike with bears, "relocation isn't an option for a wolf," Dykshoorn said.

He said wolves have complex behaviour and social structures that can be "quite brutal."

"I don't think it's successful moving wolves, especially into another wolf pack's territory. It probably would not end well with that animal," he said.

"The ultimate goal would be to change the behaviour … and live with this wolf, rather than move it."

Another option is euthanizing the wolf, which Dykshoorn said would only be considered "if and when the threat to humans sort of rises above a normal level, into that unacceptable level."

He said that the decision to take "high level actions on that animal" would only be made based on the wolf's behaviour, not an increase in sightings.

Wolves can't be rehabilitated in Alberta

Alberta's wildlife regulations strictly prohibit people or organizations from rehabilitating wild wolves.

The Cochrane Ecological Institute, home to one of Alberta's only registered wildlife rehabilitation facilities, has worked with thousands of animals like moose, foxes and black bears.

The organization's longtime president Clio Smeeton said raising and releasing a wild wolf is "a virtual impossibility" in comparison.

"It is incredibly hard to raise and rehabilitate wolf cubs because they are very, very, very social," she said.

"A cub will get totally imprinted on the carer, and then how do you introduce that cub into a wolf pack?"

Wild animals can become habituated to the presence of humans without being given food, Dykshoorn said.

"For Kananaskis, if you expected every wild animal to retreat every time they saw a human being, they'd probably starve to death," he said. 

Dykshoorn said it's not clear if the wolf has received human food, but that it has "certainly" experienced human habituation, calling it "way too comfortable around people."

Food conditioning is something that's more difficult to reverse than human habituation, with animals typically continuing to seek out human food once they've been exposed to the taste of it.

"Once they get that high calorie reward, it's really hard to turn around," Dykshoorn said.

"It usually ends up not going well for that animal."

Dykshoorn said visitors to Kananaskis Country should keep a minimum of 100 metres away from predators and avoid stopping adjacent to them or exiting their vehicle near them.

"There's just so many people around with so many food items, it makes managing wildlife challenging with the sheer number of food and attractants," he said.