Six wolves killed this fall in outskirts of Fort Smith
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 15, 2014
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Six wolves met their end this fall by getting too close to Fort Smith.
Wolves – like this one spotted early last year about 150 km west of Fort Smith on Highway 5 – have come into the outskirts of the community this fall. - NNSL file photo |
"We first started getting reports of wolves around town about five weeks ago," said Tony Vermillion, the manager of wildlife and environment for the South Slave Region with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).
The wolves were hanging out mostly on the outskirts of town.
Then, about a month ago, a wolf took a dog out of the kennel of a dog musher.
"I'm assuming that the wolf ate the dog," said Vermillion. "Then we started getting more reports of the wolves around town. At the time, we figured there were about six or seven wolves hanging around depending on the tracks and the reports that we've been getting."
Four of the wolves were snared at bait stations that ENR set up to catch them along Highway 5.
It's unfortunate ENR had to snare the animals, Vermillion said. "But the wolves are becoming an issue now with people's pets, and they seem to be getting more brave and come into town."
One other wolf was shot by a wildlife officer about two weeks ago in someone's backyard on the east side of town.
"It had a dog in its mouth," said Vermillion. "A local person driving by in a truck stopped and started yelling at the wolf. He managed to drop the dog and then other people started coming around and they kind of cornered the wolf in a person's yard. Our officers came by and dispatched the wolf."
On Dec. 4, a resident of Bell Rock Estates, which is about 13 km from downtown Fort Smith, saw a wolf on his steps and he yelled at it, but the animal wouldn't leave and he shot it.
A wolf was also spotted in early December on Highway 5 toward the landfill area, about 10 km from downtown.
Vermillion said wolves come to town every year.
"We're dealing with wild animals. They tend to move from one area to the other," he said, adding a wolf becomes a little bit more aggressive in its breeding season from December to February. "It's looking for more food and its own space. But wolves have always been around communities, and it's just a matter of if they're brave enough to take someone's pet or their dog."
Vermillion said the number of wolves that have to be dispatched varies from year to year. One was killed last year and four were killed the year before.
The ENR official advises people to respect all wild animals and give them space.
If a person happens upon a wolf, he said the big thing to do is to back off while trying to make yourself look bigger.
"Don't turn your back and run," he said. "What you want to do is keep facing the wolf and back up slowly, raising your arms and talking to it in a loud, stern voice, telling it to go away. Just kind of make yourself dominant toward the wolf."
Vermillion said wolves are known to travel long distances in a day, and they move around all year into different areas at different times of year.
"Usually around Christmas and December we stop getting reports of wolf sightings in and around Fort Smith," he said. "I'm expecting them to at least move, hopefully, by now."
