wolf attack in Algonquin
Dasberg/Vander Hoek
I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about the wolf that was shot in the Park
after several attacks on various campsites in the vicinity of Tom Thompson Lake. I
read the bulletin being circulated to Park staff that described the attacks. A 12-
year-old was dragged about 3 metres by the head in the worst. In others a family dog
was killed and eaten and many sites were ripped apart in the search for food. In the
most interesting attack a lone wolf visited the campsite and then returned with six
to eight others to steal food.
I understand wardens shot the offending creature but I haven't heard if it was sick
or if there are any others showing unusual behaviour. I'm interested because we were
camping at Rain Lake, about eight miles away as the raven flies, and we had a lone
wolf in the vicinity who would call regularly in the early morning and evening. It
was beautiful, but we became a little concerned when we read the attack reports.
MARK BD
to become agressive and bold enough to attack a camp, but cases of
rabies in wolves in North America are rare- attacks being rarer. If I
were you I'd relish the experience that you had hearing the wolf.
Rarely does one get to see or hear one-you are lucky! Mark
Dasberg/Vander Hoek
Karen Riess wrote:
>
> I can phone the Park tomorrow and find out about this. I am rather
> surprised to hear this one, but sometimes the stories get bigger as
> they go.
> About 2 yrs. ago there was a wolf that was seen wandering alone in
> the Park. He was being observed by wildlife officers because this was
> unusual behaviour. This wolf ended up "attacking" a young boy (about
> 12) who was camping with his family. The way the news reported it
> you'd think the animal was rabid. When I followed up on it they
> told me the wolf had been a pet (they thought) and when he heard the boy
> and human voices went barrelling out to meet them. The boy had a few
> scratches. This was never followed up on the radio. Could be the same
> one??
> Karen Riess
Seems improbable that things were that innocent, although the possibility
that it was the same (tame?) wolf is intriguing. The six or seven
incidents I read about took place over about a week to several different
groups.
Donald Lee Ferry
In <1996Aug30....@news.iup.edu> wo...@grove.iup.edu writes:
>. A 12-
>>> year-old was dragged about 3 metres by the head in the worst. In
others a family dog
>>> was killed and eaten and many sites were ripped apart in the search
for food. In the
>>> most interesting attack a lone wolf visited the campsite and then
returned with six
>>> to eight others to steal food.
>>>
Well the visitor center for Algonquin park can be reached at 1 (613)
637-2828. I called them and asked about the attack. It did happen and
the boy, while not seriously injuried, did require plastic surgery.
The offending wolf was shot. According to them this type of activity
has happened 3-4 times before. It always happens with young single
male wolves. They described these wolves as showing abnormal play
behavior towards humans. In another case another single male wolf
grabbed a girl by the arm. She was wearing a coat and was not injured.
In another case a wolf came into camp and stole a pillow. The main
point made was that in the case with the boy and the others, if the
wolf was making a serious attack, the boy would not be around today.
Given the powerful jaws the wolf has it could have easily killed the
boy and hauled him away to devour. Instead the boy awoke with the wolf
clamped to the boys face in a more play behavior than a territorial or
predatory behavioral response. In any case this family of 5 choose to
sleep out in the open. ASccording to the park's spokesperson, if they
had chosen to sleep inside the tent which the park people highly
recommend, this would not have happened. Indeed with wolves taken and
reared by humans, there is often a dominance display to infant humans,
which due to the inappropriate behavioral response of the infant leads
the wolf to crush the infants skull. The wolf in the park could easily
have done this, if in fact it had been doing anything else besides an
abnormal play respone toward the boy.
wo...@grove.iup.edu
In article <50208l$e...@news.corpcomm.net>, MARK BD <"mtb...@northernnet.com"@northernnet.com> writes:
>Dasberg/Vander Hoek wrote:
>>
>> I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about the wolf that was shot in the Park
>> after several attacks on various campsites in the vicinity of Tom Thompson Lake. I
>> year-old was dragged about 3 metres by the head in the worst. In others a family dog
>> was killed and eaten and many sites were ripped apart in the search for food. In the
>> most interesting attack a lone wolf visited the campsite and then returned with six
>> to eight others to steal food.
>>
>> or if there are any others showing unusual behaviour. I'm interested because we were
>> camping at Rain Lake, about eight miles away as the raven flies, and we had a lone
>> wolf in the vicinity who would call regularly in the early morning and evening. It
>> was beautiful, but we became a little concerned when we read the attack reports.
>> I haven't heard of this yet, but it sounds highly unlikely. If it did occur, my first thought would be rabies. Rabies could cause the animal
>to become agressive and bold enough to attack a camp, but cases of
>rabies in wolves in North America are rare- attacks being rarer. If I
>were you I'd relish the experience that you had hearing the wolf.
>Rarely does one get to see or hear one-you are lucky! Mark
If you want to see wolves in the wild go to the Ely, MN area. We could only be
there this Aug. for 5 days, and of those we could only get out for wildlife
viewing 3 times. We saw 3 wolves: a young wolf near Winton, probably part of
a litter of 4 born near there this year; an adult wandering down a road toward
us, when he saw our car he ran like a streak of light into the forest; another
adult that stood looking for us awhile before slowly walking away when we got
to an overlook famous for moose observations. Around the same time a friend of
ours saw all 4 Winton pups and later in the same day an adult with a radio
collar. Wolf sightings around Ely are at an all time high according to some
locals. Three wolves in three days was certainly a high for my wife and me....
the only other wild wolf we have seen was two years ago near Virginia, MN.
Ann Orr
Dasberg/Vander Hoek <das...@istar.ca> wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about the wolf that was shot
> in the Park after several attacks on various campsites in the vicinity of
> Tom Thompson Lake. I read the bulletin being circulated to Park staff that
> described the attacks. A 12- year-old was dragged about 3 metres by the
> head in the worst. In others a family dog
<snip> > I understand wardens shot the offending creature but I haven't
heard if it was sick > or if there are any others showing unusual
behaviour. I'm interested because we were <snip>
My family and I were just over at the Park today (Thurs. Aug. 28) and I
inquired about the wolf's autopsy. So far they have no news about it.
I'll check again tomorrow.
Lone Heart So many ideas, so little time.
Karen Riess
Ann,
Could you please let me know what is happening. I got sketchy info
from the park and waited 2 days for the biologist to call back, with
no response. Why has there not been any media coverage, or has there?
Thanks.
Karen
tpok...@servallcanada.com
> I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about the wolf that was shot in the Park
> after several attacks on various campsites in the vicinity of Tom Thompson Lake. I
> read the bulletin being circulated to Park staff that described the attacks. A 12-
> year-old was dragged about 3 metres by the head in the worst. In others a family dog
> most interesting attack a lone wolf visited the campsite and then returned with six
> to eight others to steal food.
>
> or if there are any others showing unusual behaviour. I'm interested because we were
> wolf in the vicinity who would call regularly in the early morning and evening. It
> was beautiful, but we became a little concerned when we read the attack reports.