Dettling show combines photography with conservation

For wildlife photographer Peter Dettling there is more to his new gallery show than pictures of wolves and bears.

With his Terra Magica Gallery in Canmore, Dettling has combined his passion for photography with a wilderness education centre.

Recently, he celebrated the opening of his newest show Of Wolves, Bears and Men which runs until June 20 and offered guest speakers, special events and excursions along with his award-winning imagery.

“Of Wolves, Bears and Men will bring in experts on these species and our relationships with them,” Dettlling said. “It is not just about the images, but what is behind them.

“I want people to connect with nature because much of it is in trouble.”

On Saturday (Feb. 11), the gallery welcomed Günther Bloch for a presentation on wolf behaviour based on his 20 years of field observations in the wilds here in Banff National Park and Germany.

Bloch said when it comes to wolves there is a significant difference between habituation and adaptation.

With the level of human use and infrastructure in the national park, he said, it cannot be considered undisturbed wilderness, but is in fact a wilderness ghetto and wolves have adapted to use human roads and railway right of ways.

“If they didn’t it would be a hard time to survive,” Bloch said, adding the animals each have an energy budget and using a road, for example, saves some of that energy.

He said the animals have adapted to the human presence of vehicles and traffic on roadways in the Bow Valley instead of being habituated to it. He also spoke about how they are incredibly social animals which, as cubs, learn culturally from adults.

Bloch is also well known in his native country for understanding dog behaviour. He said there are similarities between wolf and dog behaviour.

In June, he will hold a two-day seminar comparing wolf and dog behaviour.

Bloch will also offer a wolf behaviour weekend seminar Feb. 25-26 as part of Dettling’s ongoing show. Registration is $199 and more information can be found at www.terramagica.ca

In June, Bloch returns to the gallery for a weekend presentation on the relationship between wolves and ravens. On the same weekend, there will be a reading and book signing by Ben Gadd and a presentation on painted dogs of Africa by University of Calgary associate professor Shelley Alexander.

On March 24, Dettling welcomes bear specialist Mike Gibeau for a presentation on bears in Kamchatka Russia, Italy, the Republic of Georgia and southern Siberia.

Finally, during the Earth Day weekend in April, Dettling will present a movie screening, presentations and panel discussions on predator-friendly ranching and wolf and bear conservation in Alberta, B.C. and Europe with Jeff Gailus, Sadie Parr and Louise Liebenberg.