Banff Wolf Destroyed After Attacking Tent

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Banff Wolf Destroyed After Attacking Tent

Post by roguemoon » Sat Aug 10, 2019 9:54 am

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/wolf-destroy ... -1.4543462
One person was injured and a wolf was destroyed after wildlife attacked a tent early Friday morning.

According to Parks Canada, the camper was inside a tent in Rampart Creek Campground along the Icefields Parkway when a wolf attacked the tent. The camper suffered injuries to their hand and arm.

Parks Canada members responded to the scene at approximately 1 a.m. after the camper reported the attack. The injured person was transported to the Banff hospital.

A survey of the campsite determined there were no wildlife attractants, including food, that would have drawn the wolf to the tent.

A lone wolf, believed to be the offending animal, was located approximately a kilometre south of the campground and destroyed by Parks Canada.

Rampart Creek Campground has been closed to the public as a precautionary measure and Parks Canada continues to monitor wildlife activity in the region.
Unfortunately, this was the most detailed article I could find regarding the incident, which I heard on the local news this morning. As far as I can tell it is unknown if the wolf involved was a member of the Bow Valley Pack or a lone wolf. I do hope that the Bow Valley wolves aren't getting themselves into trouble again, especially after it was confirmed recently they'd had another litter this year (https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-ne ... r-in-a-row), I do hope for more updates soon. It is also unclear if the injuries to the man's hand and arm were a result of a wolf bite or something else, as only one early news report so far stated it was a bite, while all others only specify an 'injury'.
Despite authorities saying there was no food luring the wolf at the time, I remain skeptical that the wolf hadn't been previously attracted to the campground due to irresponsible campers leaving food or attempting to attract or interact with the wolf.
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Re: Banff Wolf Destroyed After Attacking Tent

Post by DaniBeez » Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:43 pm

I didn't notice you were a fellow Canadian until now rouguemoon :).

Anyway, this would be a really scary thing for a family casually camping to endure. They probably weren't expecting a wolf attack at all, let alone a close encounter. I wonder if the children will suffer a fear of larger dogs moving forward, poor things.

I found a CBC article about the incident from the 13th August that provides some more information for us to consider, including the Facebook post of the mother of that family, watching the wolf drag the father out of the tent. Helps put into perspective what they went through.

I know when reading, I was wondering about rabies or some other disease that alters behaviour as a factor for attacking and not fleeing upon retaliation, considering the investigation didn't find obvious food attractants at the campsite. The article I found offered,
"Veterinary tests have confirmed that the wolf was in poor condition and likely nearing the end of its natural life span," read Tuesday's release.

"The wolf's condition was likely a contributing factor for its unusual behaviour and this remains a very rare incident."

Jon Stuart-Smith, a wildlife management specialist with Parks Canada, said this is the first incident of its kind within a national park.

"There have been two other incidents in provincial parks, one in B.C. and one in Ontario," he said. "These three incidents are the only ones where people have actually been injured [in protected areas like provincial parks and national parks]."

Smith said there have been other incidents outside of parks where people have been injured in wolf attacks.
So we may not get to know the specifics of the wolf's condition, other than condition-driven desperation and a possible conditioning for human presence. Perhaps the wolf heard laughter or shrieks from the young boys, and chose their tent as a target.
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Re: Banff Wolf Destroyed After Attacking Tent

Post by Koa » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:03 pm

CNN wrote about this as well (but local news is better :P ). I'm glad the attack wasn't worse, but I hope people don't use this as an opportunity to say only unhealthy wolves attack humans.

Thanks for sharing, roguemoon. I follow CBC on Facebook so I saw that CBC article as well, DaniBeez.

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Re: Banff Wolf Destroyed After Attacking Tent

Post by roguemoon » Thu Aug 15, 2019 9:11 pm

@DaniBeez thanks for the update! I'll admit, based on my experience with how Banff tourists and locals act around wildlife and the vague early articles my first impression was the victim had perhaps tried to lure or interact with the wolf which resulted in the attack. Reading the mother's facebook post was pretty shocking. It's so bizarre hearing about such a rare incident. I've dealt with dog attacks before which are scary enough, honestly huge props to the dad for defending his family.
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Re: Banff Wolf Destroyed After Attacking Tent

Post by DaniBeez » Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:33 pm

I agree, and I wouldn't be surprised if this family or previous occupants were trying to draw them in for a closer look. It would be especially unfortunate if the actions of previous campsite users played a role in prompting this attack!

I have been to Banff before, but not into the park and not for camping. I'd love to go back though some day. I didn't see any wolves though, only elk! Which were still very large compared to the whitetail deer of Ontario!
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