By GLENN GARNETT
You can blame it on Aesop and Little Red Riding Hood. If there’s any group that badly needs a strong public relations campaign, it’s Canis Lupus, the hapless North American wolf.
Few species suffer from a worse reputation, so much so wolves been all but eliminated in many places south of the border. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, about 6,000 wolves were trapped for pelts in Ontario from 1988 to 1999. Wolves Ontario, an organization dedicated to bringing the plight of the wolf to public attention, notes that wolf hunting in Ontario is open season. There are no bag limits so hunters can plug as many as they like and they don’t have to report kills unless the pelts are sold commercially. Farmers don’t require a licence to trap or hunt wolves on their property. About the only place wolves can catch a break are within the borders of Ontario’s provincial parks which, unfortunately, make up just 12% of our territory.
Wolves Ontario points out that the dangers presented by wolves to livestock, furbearing species and even humans are over-represented and often unsubstantiated. Seems we should get to know them a little better.
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A good place to start is the Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve, located just west of Algonquin Park and 25 kilometres north of the village of Haliburton. The privately-owned reserve comprises approximately 60,000 acres of hardwood forests, 50 lakes, and countless wildlife. Part of the facilities is the Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre which opened to the public in 1996.
In 1992 Haliburton Forest was asked to take responsibility for a wolf pack from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, following 17 years in captivity in which they’d been studied by researchers from a local university. The pack - at that time made up of six animals - was ill-suited for release into the wild.
The wolves obviously liked their new digs - over the following two years, they produced two litters of pups. In December 1995 a young male named Trats was loaned to Laurentian University in Sudbury for research. There he met a sweet young thing named Wen and the pair returned to Haliburton as the leaders of the pack.
The Wolf Centre’s Rick Whittaker says the pack is studied within a 15-acre double-fenced enclosure, with research into their behaviour continuing.
“Our goal is to educate the public about wolves but also to conduct research on our animals,” he says. “Our animals are captive unsocialized wolves, meaning we don’t have a lot of contact with them other than at feeding times, unless there’s a severe health issue. Also, in the spring, we’ll assess the pups they’ve had and determine their sex for research purposes. Other than that, we leave them alone.”
At the interpretive centre, researchers observe the pack through mirrored glass and try to limit their impact on the wolves as much as possible.
“The wolf population is fairly healthy in the northern regions of Ontario and nonexistent in southern Ontario south of Haliburton or so,” Whittaker says. “Historically, they’ve had a bad reputation with farmers. But wolves aren’t as much of a problem for farmers as coyotes.”
Ah yes, the coyote. If you live in Toronto, you’re well aware of this year’s Summer of the Coyote in which wildlife officials were bamboozled by the wily critters who made pests of themselves and killed or maimed small pets. Away from urban centres, coyotes are unwelcome guests at farms where livestock may be endangered. In northern and western regions of Canada, sometimes wolves take the rap for coyote mischief. But the reality is, wolves try to stay as far away from people as they can - although, if traditional food sources are scarce, they’re not above snatching livestock in a pinch.
“If you get to see a wolf in the wild, consider yourself lucky,” Whittaker explains. “They may see you but you’ll rarely see them - they’re quiet and they have excellent camouflage in the forest.
“Coyotes are quite a bit smaller and wolves have a wider colour scheme, going anywhere from black to white - coyotes never come into the black range,” Whittaker adds. “Wolves have a bit of a longer snout and are just generally larger animals. Coyotes are more curious and adaptable to live around people.”
He says that wolves tend to be nocturnal - same as one of their prey sources, deer. Wolves do travel in packs, but Whittaker says there are circumstances in which a wolf may be shunned, perhaps coming out on the short end of a battle for dominance within the pack, and is left to fend for itself.
“Lone wolves have a tough go at life, because they have to do all of the hunting for themselves and they can also infringe on the territories of other packs which can place them in danger,” he says.
Wolves are extremely territorial and Whittaker says there’s a very defined hierarchy within the pack. “There’s an alpha male and an alpha female which are the leaders of the pack,” he explains. “They get to eat first and are normally the only breeding pair in the pack as well. The alphas are the strongest of the pack, so as the only ones to breed, the strongest genes continue on.”
A wolf pack could consist of two wolves as long as there was a male and a female, and over winters of lean pickings, the lesser wolves of the pack could perish in favour of preserving the alphas.
Wolves don’t pose much of a problem to cottagers, even in remote areas, because of their aversion for human contact, and unless there’s absolutely nothing to eat in the woods, aren’t likely to be poking around your garbage like other wildlife critters.
Haliburton Forest is open year round, and besides presenting a unique opportunity to observe wolves, offers recreational opportunties of dog sledding, snowmobiling, ice fishing and snowshoeing in the winter, and mountain biking, hiking, canoeing and specialized outdoor education programs in the warmer months. While you’re likely to see at least one member of their wolf pack, it’s not a lock due to the size of the compound and the unsocialized nature of the pack.
During the summer, the Wolf Centre is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. After Thanksgiving and through the winter, the centre is open Friday to Sunday only, from 10-5. For more information, check out their website at www.haliburtonforest.com or call (705) 754-2198.
To learn more about the plight of the wolf, check out the Wolves Ontario website at www.wolvesontario.org.
Source: Wolves Ontario (www.wolvesontario.org)
