The Early Life of Skoki The Wolf In Banff National Park
“BANFF NATIONAL PARK They moved as a pack throughout the Bow Valley in the winter & hunted. When Skoki’s mom had another litter of pups in April 2010 they hunted for her too.
‘It’s entirely fascinating to see how far these wolves were travelling each day to go out, hunt, find food, & then bring it back to the pups & the mom,’ said Jesse Whittington, a wildlife biologist with Banff National Park.
By summer, Skoki went up to higher elevations…He travelled through a former caribou range near Lake Louise & even hunted mountain goats as they came down from the craggy cliffs to cross through valleys in search of water.
He left his pack in mid-December 2010 & went to Kananaskis Country, where he formed a pack of his own…
It’s unknown where he ended up…
Throughout Western Canada, there’s a love-hate relationship with wolves…
…wolves are considered an important part of the ecosystem.
‘They are a major influence on any system that they live in,’ said Paul Paquet, one of the world’s leading wolf scientists… ‘They’re what we refer to as an apex predator in
these systems…’
His research over the past 30 years has shown wolves not only impact their prey; they impact everything from insects & birds to trees & rivers.
‘When wolves kill another animal…what’s the response of other species near them or around them,’ said Paquet, noting they kept a simple scorecard & tracked up to 52 different species visiting each kill site.
It ranged from grizzly & black bears, cougars & lynx to weasels, wolverines, & all kinds of birds (ravens, magpies, owls, & even smaller birds), along with small rodents such as voles.
Similar research in Yellowstone, where wolves were reintroduced in the mid-1990s, showed even broader effects.
‘They found extensive changes were occurring, including larger trees such as aspen had started to recover,’ said Paquet. ‘They found changes in the bird community…changes in streams& rivers- a whole variety of things.
‘They (wolves) are very influential, probably more so than any other species that lives in the Rockies.’…
Data from Skoki’s GPS collar in 2009 & 2010 showed wolves in Banff were also killing coyotes, deer, moose, & the mountain goats.”
Colett Derworiz
CALGARY HERALD
in The Gazette, Montreal
Aug. 1/2015
No comments:
Post a Comment