A fearless wolf pack in Pacific Rim National Park has prompted the establishment of a new wildlife tracking program that the wildlife specialists hope will reduce contact between animals and people.
The five member wolf pack was first seen on Long Beach near Tofino, B.C. last November and has become an attraction for park visitors, who stop and watch them near the highway for extended periods of time.
"They're basically lying in the open, which is somewhat unnatural behaviour. They should be somewhat more of a secretive animal," says the park's human-wildlife conflict specialist Todd Windle.
The new program, which began as a pilot project last summer, will teach people how to recognize animal tracks left along Long Beach, while discouraging them from actually seeking out wildlife.
"You can actually follow those tracks down the beach and get an insight into what they were doing. How many of were there? Where were they going? What were they maybe looking at? Were they feeding on anything? Were they marking any territories? That was really successful and we're hoping to have something like that again this year," says Windle.
Windle says frequent human-wildlife contact can make animals less fearful of people, which often does not end well for the animals. He hopes the program will help protect the park's precious fauna.
"Let's use this opportunity to make sure that we all have an important role to play to keep them wild," says Windle.
Source
The five member wolf pack was first seen on Long Beach near Tofino, B.C. last November and has become an attraction for park visitors, who stop and watch them near the highway for extended periods of time.
"They're basically lying in the open, which is somewhat unnatural behaviour. They should be somewhat more of a secretive animal," says the park's human-wildlife conflict specialist Todd Windle.
The new program, which began as a pilot project last summer, will teach people how to recognize animal tracks left along Long Beach, while discouraging them from actually seeking out wildlife.
"You can actually follow those tracks down the beach and get an insight into what they were doing. How many of were there? Where were they going? What were they maybe looking at? Were they feeding on anything? Were they marking any territories? That was really successful and we're hoping to have something like that again this year," says Windle.
Windle says frequent human-wildlife contact can make animals less fearful of people, which often does not end well for the animals. He hopes the program will help protect the park's precious fauna.
"Let's use this opportunity to make sure that we all have an important role to play to keep them wild," says Windle.
Source
are they getting enough to eat? the wolf look a little skinny for my taste ,so maybe they are looking for food that maybe the humans had and left.
wild n free it is we incringing on their territory.....peace
quit taking their space, humans have taken so much land for what, housing condos apartments and a lot sit empty, let wildlife have land they can hunt on quit destroying their homes ,they were here before us
THIS IS Y THE HUNTER'S NEED TO STOP KILLING THE ELK!! THIS IS A SOURCE OF FOOD TO THE WOLF!! THE ELK DISTROY THE LAND!, N THE WOLF KEEPS THE LAND GREEN N HELP CONTROL THE GROWTH OF THE ELK N THE DISTRUCTION OF THE LANDS GREEN PASTURES!! HELLO CAN SOMEONE OUT THERE REALLY DO SOME GOOD IN RETURN???