Dogs And More On Wolf Safety

There is continued interest by readers here concerning human/ wolf safety. Here is an interesting quote (From the Division of Wildlife Conservation of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, 2008)

 

“A published review of wolf-human encounters in North America (McNay 2002a,b) revealed that the reported incidence of aggression by wolves is very low, but it has increased in recent years. For example, there was only 1 case of unprovoked wolf aggression documented between 1900 and 1969, but 18 cases of unprovoked aggression toward people between 1969 and 2000. Since 2000 there have been several more cases of injuries inflicted by wild wolves on people in both Alaska and Canada, and in 2005 a young man in northern Saskatchewan was killed by wolves. That increasing trend in wolf-caused injuries is occurring as wolves increase and reoccupy areas where they were formerly removed. Human populations are also increasing, and human activities such as camping, hiking, sightseeing and industrial developmental are increasing in areas occupied by wolves.”

 

They narrow the conditions where you might have an aggressive encounter with a wolf… shorter than what I postulated in an earlier blog post.

 

* Near an occupied wolf den and rendezvous sites (according to Conservation Northwest) 

 

* Near an animal that a wolf might be eating.

 

* Food conditioning and habituation, such as giving them access to human garbage sites

 

* Rabies.

 

So, I was pretty close to the mark. They didn’t mention situations like famine, which appears in other accounts from Asia. I’ll do a bit more digging on the topic. 

 

I had heard about the Saskatchewan case. And I have heard increasing stories from hunters who say they are encountering aggressive wolves. I also think you increase the risks if you have your dog with you.

 

If I find more, I’ll let you know. If you do go into wolf country, you should also educate yourself as to how to avoid encounters and what to do if you are confronted by a wolf.