A pack of wolves is hunting elk on the edges of the Banff townsite.
Parks Canada officials say they have been getting an increasing number of sightings of the wolf pack over the past month and believe wolves have moved in to form a new Bow Valley pack.
“These wolves do seem to be concentrating their activity in some of the surrounding habitat around the townsite,” said David Gummer, a wildlife ecologist for Banff National Park.
“They are trying to make a living here, and that’s related to the availability of elk and deer in this area.”
Parks Canada put a closure in place Sunday (Sept. 20) after a hiker came across four wolves feeding on an elk carcass on the banks of Forty Mile Creek, about 20 metres off the Fenlands Loops hiking trail.
The closure affects hikers on the trail and paddlers on Forty Mile Creek, also known as Echo Creek. Anyone caught inside the closed area will be charged under the national park regulations, and could face a fine of up to $25,000.
The closure had not been lifted at the Outlook’s press time.
“We closed the area to allow the wolves to feed on that carcass and to prevent anyone from accidentally venturing too close while the wolves were on it, or potentially if a bear or other carnivore was there,” said Gummer.
“We usually will give them three or four days to feed undisturbed. We’ll monitor the situation and if they have moved on and the remains aren’t still there as a wildlife attractant, we’ll then be able to reopen.”
These wolves are thought to be from the same pack that killed a deer in the Banff townsite in summer. Residents watched as wolves chased down and killed the deer on Cougar Street on Aug. 11.
There are at least five wolves in this pack. Some are gray in colour, while others are black. None of them are fitted with collars or marked.
It’s suspected it may be a new Bow Valley pack that has formed, perhaps with wolves from the Fairholme pack, a pack in Kootenay National Park, or even wolves that have been seen in the Spray River Valley.
Depending on the time of year, there are believed to be between 25 and 40 wolves that take in Banff National Park as part of their large home ranges.
“We’re not entirely sure of the origins or source of these particular animals,” said Gummer. “But they certainly seem to have set up camp and are using the habitat on all sides of the Banff townsite for the past month.”
John Marriott, a local wildlife photographer and conservationist, said this is the first wolf pack that has been hunting regularly around the Banff townsite since the late 1990s when the Fairholme wolf pack took down many elk.
He said it might be time for Parks Canada to reconsider its annual elk cull, especially if the elk continue to be hunted by this new pack. Parks Canada culls up to 20 of the most habituated elk in the townsite each winter in a bid to control the elk population around town.
“Now that we have a predatory pack that seems to have adjusted to living on the edge of the town, at least temporarily, they can take care of the elk numbers,” he said. “I think it’s a question that Parks now needs to be asking.”
Parks Canada conducts the annual elk cull in the context of an established target population of 150 to 300 elk in the Bow Valley, with about 100 in the region around the Banff townsite. Four elk were killed in the 2014-15 cull.
Given that this new wolf pack is hunting elk around the townsite, Gummer said that will be taken into consideration when making decisions about how many elk will be taken in next winter’s elk cull.
“Each year when we re-evaluate the status of the elk population numbers and various management actions for elk, we factor in known mortalities of elk such as train or road strikes, even numbers of elk drowned in the Bow River,” he said.
“I expect that we would factor this in as well. The fact that wolves are using habitat in close proximity to the townsite and having success in killing elk, it would be just like other causes of mortality and other variables we consider each year in our management actions.”
In the past month, Gummer said there have been a number of times when the wolves have had to be hazed, including last week when the pack was seen close to the townsite where the railway line crosses Forty Mile Creek in daylight hours.
Gummer said in most cases, the wolves flee the area when wildlife officers arrive, but in some instances they have used noisemakers and chalk ball rounds to give the wolves an extra push out of town.
“We have needed to haze them on a few occasions to discourage them from coming into high human-use areas, trying to give them a clear signal to discourage that behaviour,” said Gummer.
“We haven’t had any specific aggressive behaviour or behaviour of concern towards people, but we are paying close attention to that so they don’t become more habituated or more aggressive towards people.”
On Sept. 12, Parks Canada received a report of this wolf pack killing an elk near Vermilion Lakes.
“In that instance, it was remote enough and far away from the road, so we were able to just let it play out,” said Gummer. “A bunch of the public got to view that opportunity and see the wolves from a safe distance.”
Residents and visitors are encouraged to report all sightings of wolves, bears and cougars to 403-762-1470.
“It’s a good reminder that we share the surrounding habitat with species like this, and we should keep pets on a leash and children well supervised,” said Gummer.
