Wolf experts disagree with inquest, blame bear for mauling
Nov 5th, 2007 by admin
Larissa Liepins , CanWest News Service
Published: Sunday, November 04, 2007
On Nov. 8, 2005, Kenton Carnegie became the first human in recorded history to be killed by wild wolves in North America, according to a coroner’s inquest that wrapped up last week.
Or was he?
The jury in the inquest was convinced that when the 22-year-old engineering student from Ontario headed out for an afternoon hike in the northern Saskatchewan woods, wolves were responsible for mauling him to death.
But Canada’s wolf experts don’t all agree — in part because no one witnessed the attack, overnight snow obscured any tracks made at the time, and close contact of any kind between humans and wild wolves is extremely rare.
Some scientists argue the jury either ignored or didn’t see crucial evidence that indicates it was a black bear, not wolves, that killed and ate Carnegie.
“The jury’s decision was a poor one, which I’d put in the same category as ‘O.J. Simpson is innocent,’ ” said Paul Paquet, a large-carnivore biologist who specializes in bears and wolves.
Paquet, who says he’s examined 1,000 animals killed by wolves and more than 100 killed by bears, testified at the inquiry into Kenton’s death.
“For instance, the jury didn’t see the incidence reports of aggressive black bears in the area in September and November (2005),” he said.
“And a lot was made of the fact (during the inquest) that bears are supposed to be in their dens by then. It isn’t true.”
Moreover, although Carnegie’s stomach, kidneys and intestines had been eaten — organs of choice for black bears - his liver, heart and lungs were left behind.
Shelley Alexander, a professor at the University of Calgary who’s studied wolves in captivity and in the wild, agrees with Paquet’s analysis.
“Wolves will take the high-fat, internal organs of an animal first,” she told CanWest News Service.
“And in the 10 encounters where I’ve been in close proximity to a pack (in the wild), I’ve never had an interaction where I was threatened; I’ve never witnessed any aggressiveness.”
Even though wolves may have scavenged Carnegie’s body, it doesn’t mean they killed him — and they certainly couldn’t have pulled his body from the kill site to where it was left: 50 metres away, over bush and small fallen trees, Paquet added.
“That was done by a powerful animal with intent,” he said.
The jury, however, heard that wolves had been scavenging at an unfenced dump near the remote camp at the Points North Landing supply depot — about 850 kilometres north of Saskatoon — where Carnegie was on a work term.
That means the animals, who normally fear humans and run away, had become accustomed to them, argued Mark McNay, a wildlife expert from Alaska who also testified at the inquest.
Without fear, it’s possible the pack that killed Carnegie had begun to eye humans as a food source, agreed wildlife researcher Lu Carbyn.
“All mammals can become conditioned to man, and wolves are no exception,” said Carbyn, who says he’s spent 40 years researching wild animals, including wolves.
“And we know that, in captivity, wolves have been known to kill humans. We’re treated no differently from other prey,” Carbyn said.
But that argument doesn’t wash with Alexander, who points out that wolves are abundant in Banff and Algonquin National Parks, where they come into contact with humans all the time.
“There are lots of people in wolf habitat, even if people don’t know they’re there, and there’s never been an attack,” Alexander said.
Paquet argues it would actually take many generations of human contact before wolves lost their fear — longer still in the remote location where Carnegie was killed.
“I don’t want to impugn the exercise to determine (Carnegie’s) cause of death — and the positive thing is, it gives some closure to his family,” Paquet said.
“But in the end, it’s always good to find the truth — and juries aren’t always the best way to do that.”
The jury also made several recommendations that will be passed on to the Saskatchewan government, including the need to establish safety standards at garbage dumps where predatory animals such as wolves and bears are found.
With files from Saskatoon StarPhoenix
This is incredibly sickening, Paquet et. al just can’t give it up. No empathy or sympathy at all for the family. Nobody empathetic to a famiily who has lost so much,would participat in this interview and renew their pain and determination to get at the truth. He was the reason this inquest was necessary.
Maybe these so called experts should not be working this field any more.
This is the kind of slanted so called science, and lack of concern we have had to tolorate in the SW program as well.
For instance, Paquet must be well aware of the habituation problems with Mexican wolves yet in this article he makes no mention that it is a problem. Not only that, but we are seeing some of the same behaviors in these wolves as in those that killed Kenton.
“Paquet argues it would actually take many generations of human contact before wolves lost their fear — longer still in the remote location where Carnegie was killed.”
Pursuing their slanted biased and inaccurate opinions after the inquest is irresponsible. Nothing this guy ever says as a professional should be taken seriously agian.
My opinion is he was entrusted to do an analysis on Kenton’s death and he lied in his report on Kenton’s death, this article is further proof.
The man didn’t do his job because of his bias and activist roots and now he has been exposed.
Wait a minute what am I missing here there have been attackes in both Banff and Algonquin National Parks and other national parks by habituated wolves.
A simple search pulls up all sorts of attacks in Algonquin
http://www.aws.vcn.com/wolf_attacks_on_humans.html
A Canadien wolf is a powerful animal with a hungry belly, thats intent. Some Canadien wolves have been as big as 175 pounds. Even if you got two Canadien wolves at 125 pounds each thats a small bear, Imagine three wolves at 125 pounds each, 375 pounds of wolves dragging you down onto the ground. This so-called biologist is a fraud. A government trapper, last year in Idaho killed a 175 pound Canadien wolf, about 60 miles from where I live. I would suggest this Paquet dude go camping alone in some Alaskan or Canadien very serious back country, unarmed. build a fire and cook dinner, maybe the 100 or so wolves that come in to the fire will be understanding of this fool and leave him alone.