Fort Smith (Dec 08/03) - Ever wonder how wolves work together to bring down bison, and how bison try and protect themselves?

Predator-prey relationships in Wood Buffalo National Park form the basis of a new book by a University of Alberta professor.

The book is not a scientific treatise. It's a readable introduction to the issues at stake with the bison population.

"It's basically a trade book written by a scholar," said author Lu Carbyn.

Carbyn, a former Canadian Wildlife Service worker, has written three scientific books, but felt they weren't read by a wide enough audience. He found writing for a general audience a lot harder than writing academic abstracts.

"You're like an artist trying to paint a picture," said Carbyn.

In the first part of the book, Carbyn takes readers into his research in Wood Buffalo National Park, describing how wolves hunt and kill bison in detail. Then, in the second part, the reader is privy to the debates over management of the bison population.

Carbyn said his intent was to show readers the differences between what happens in the natural setting and the human perceptions of what goes on in nature.

Carbyn said he ended up studying predator/prey relationships because that's what there was to do at the Canadian Wildlife Service.

"There was very little choice," said Carbyn.

He began studying wolf predation on elk in Jasper National Park for the CWS, then moved on to the interactions between the wolf and bison populations in Wood Buffalo National Park, which he bills in the book as one of the most remote places on Earth.

He and his students built an observation platform in the park. Since 1984, he has carried on his own research.

He spent anywhere from a few days to a month alone in the bush, and said the experience was very rewarding.

Carbyn was inspired by Bill Fuller, a zoology professor from the University of Alberta, who lived in Fort Smith while studying the bison.

Carbyn believes the NWT bison population is thriving, and that the current low numbers are due to wolf predation, not disease. The book's message, he said, is that much more research is needed before policies can be agreed upon.

"We need to know much more," he said. "We need to know more about the food habits of the bison and how the changes to the delta have affected them. We need long term studies."