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Discovery Island Marine Park Temporary Closure

That is the one of dumbest I have ever heard about.
One lone wolf is not a threat. The russians proved that it takes over 20 generations of selective breading to turn wolves in to a domestic dogs.
This is strange behavior for bureaucrats. They usually post a sign fist.
DO NOT FEED THE WOLF, or he may eat you!
But then Bureaucrats never use common sense. In Michigan, the DNR refuses to acknowledge the existence of Bobcats. It is suspected that the DNR does not want to manage them. If Bobcats don 't exist they can't be managed.
Maybe the Discovery Island officials just don't want to manage people on that Island. (they don't want to do their job)

Roy
 
I have a feeling they want to protect the wolf... contact with humans reduces fear response, leads to the death of the animal...
 
Wolf track Nissen Bight
 

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That is the one of dumbest I have ever heard about.
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Is it?
I have to admit I have no special knowledge of wolves or their behaviour, but.
I kinda like the idea of educating the public about wildlife awareness.
I also remember a lone wolf attack on a paddler on Vargas island a few years back and a seperate incident on Aristazabal island on another paddler a few years before that. Not very scientific sample, but my memory says there is some risk. Maybe others could pipe in here that have expert knowledge?
Maybe the Discovery Island officials just don't want to manage people on that Island. (they don't want to do their job)
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From my experience on Discovery, this wolf has created more work for everyone than the last 5 years put together.
 
My first reaction to the story is along the lines of 'what a dumb idea'.

I recently saw a wolf in Cape Scott.

Last year I saw a wolf in Strathcona Park.

What are we going to do? Close Cape Scott and Strathcona Park till the wolves go away?

I do not understand the thinking process by which Discovery Marine Park is closed following a wolf sighting. Seems an over-reaction.
 
Right on, Ken.

We have some wolf packs here in Idaho, but we're not sealing our borders. But here folks tend to shoot first and ask questions later, if ever. However, for us non shooters, the evidence suggests we can coexist.
 
I've got cougars, bears and the odd wolf on the mnt right behind my place where i hike regularly. I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
ken_vandeburgt said:
My first reaction to the story is along the lines of 'what a dumb idea'.

I recently saw a wolf in Cape Scott.

Last year I saw a wolf in Strathcona Park.

What are we going to do? Close Cape Scott and Strathcona Park till the wolves go away?

I do not understand the thinking process by which Discovery Marine Park is closed following a wolf sighting. Seems an over-reaction.
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Is Discovery Is large enough to support a wolf? I thought wolf territories were fairly large....
So, I'd guess either the wolf is going to get hungry and leave (good), or will get highly motivated to hang around the people/campsites/lunch stops on Discovery and try to find food there (bad).

That said, closing the park (I assume the part that is marked I.R. on the charts is outside government authority...) seems not-well-thought-out.
IMO,of course.
 
JohnAbercrombie said:
ken_vandeburgt said:
My first reaction to the story is along the lines of 'what a dumb idea'.

I recently saw a wolf in Cape Scott.

Last year I saw a wolf in Strathcona Park.

What are we going to do? Close Cape Scott and Strathcona Park till the wolves go away?

I do not understand the thinking process by which Discovery Marine Park is closed following a wolf sighting. Seems an over-reaction.
Click to expand...

Is Discovery Is large enough to support a wolf? I thought wolf territories were fairly large....
So, I'd guess either the wolf is going to get hungry and leave (good), or will get highly motivated to hang around the people/campsites/lunch stops on Discovery and try to find food there (bad).

That said, closing the park (I assume the part that is marked I.R. on the charts is outside government authority...) seems not-well-thought-out.
IMO,of course.
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Bottom line, protect the WOLF! that is what is trying to be done. Nobody is perfect, especially any Gov't organization. This island is too close to the city, and if he does run out of water/food, which he will, he will either swim back to V.I, or drown trying. so lets catch him/her? and give them a chance in the real wild, where no dumb-ass bi-peds can pester them. Cape Scott is a big place, as is Strathcona, discovery island is not...IMHO (too bad, I was one of the crowd who was ready to paddle over and see if I could get a pic or two, spend a nite camping, glad I did not, and will settle for pics in the news)
 
It may not be about the size of the territory so much as the amount of food (ie deer of various types) available. I don't know about BC coastal wolves, but here in Saskatchewan they're not garbage scavengers even when they're pretty hungry. We have packs of wolves even in pretty close proximity to Saskatoon, but they are very rarely seen and 99% of the population would be surprised to learn there are wolves close at hand. They'd also be surprised to learn that there are herds of moose and elk nearby, which is why the wolves are here in the first place (an article in today's paper about moose might throw off my made-up statistics).

One animal is not an established population. My guess? It's a young male - young males of a variety of species (even human) wander off great distances to find their own territory and mates away from the more established males. It's why a polar bear (from Manitoba) and grizzly bears (likely from NWT) have been sighted in northern Saskatchewan.

I tend to think that expanding wildlife populations is a good thing, though increasing human encroachment is a problem.

Cheers,
Bryan
 
I agree with the last couple of posts. Discovery Island is a pretty small island located just a couple of km off the shores downtown Victoria, and sees very frequent visitors from people (probably daily, especially in summer). If the wolf were able to get off the island, he'd find himself right in the middle of a reasonably size city, with no real avenues to get back to 'the wild' (where-ever that is). I think this is a lot different than finding a wolf on Vargas Island or any of the other, significantly more remote places that wolves are commonly found (including rural Saskatchewan etc.). It's different, not so much because of the wolf, but because most 'city folk' (at least around here) wouldn't know what to do if they saw a wolf - I'd probably even go so far as to say that most people who took a boat trip and stopped on Discovery Island would probably mistake the wolf for a domestic dog. Think of the results - kids throwing a stick 'for' it, or people trying to approach or feed it etc. All of which would result either in habitation or possibly aggressive behavior from the wolf. That is the real threat - and it's probably a much greater threat to the wolf than to the humans. Generally I like to think that humans and animals should be able to coexist, but in this case, the wolf really is doomed if it remains there, so they are right in considering options for its capture and (hopefully) release back into the wild somewhere. I don't claim to know a lot about wolves, but I do know that they are very territorial - hopefully he could be released and survive elsewhere. Perhaps this is what they're looking into.
 
Typical urban reaction to a wildlife issue. A bureaucrat at a desk asks the question, is there a risk? Of course the answer is yes, and a bureaucrat can't put the public at risk, so he closes the park. The funny thing is that 90% of the time a wolf in this situation will never be seen, will figure things out for himself and move on. It's the typical knee-jerk reaction. We live in cougar and bear country, but if one is sighted near a residential area the media is alerted, bulletins handed out at schools to alert parents that their children may be eaten and everyone is scared for a bit, when the reality is bears and cougars are there all the time.

Pawistik said:
most 'city folk' (at least around here) wouldn't know what to do if they saw a wolf - I'd probably even go so far as to say that most people who took a boat trip and stopped on Discovery Island would probably mistake the wolf for a domestic dog. Think of the results - kids throwing a stick 'for' it, or people trying to approach or feed it etc. All of which would result either in habitation or possibly aggressive behavior from the wolf.
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Absolutely! The problem isn't the wolf, it's that urban folk don't know how to co-exist with wild animals. Why not a school program that teaches how to handle wildlife issues and encounters? We are after all in bear, wolf and cougar country. When one shows up it shouldn't be a surprise.
 
Well said "JK"! Here on the Sunshine Coast over the past 10 years in particular we have seen a major change in the demographic. This change has been disastrous for wildlife as the former urbanite wants the views and the rural setting but shits themselves side-ways when a bear crosses their manicured lawn. In most situations a Conservation officer is called and with a wide-eyed exaggerated story of an encounter you know what happens. No doubt this is happening throughout our country as the population increases and lack of understanding of wildlife and the outdoors is so rampant. I have no doubt we will see more of this type of closure.
 
Mark_Schilling said:
I'd probably even go so far as to say that most people who took a boat trip and stopped on Discovery Island would probably mistake the wolf for a domestic dog.
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I was one of the people who reported the wolf to the park ranger back in June. We also took photos of it showing that it was indeed a wolf. Up until then, it was assumed that it was an abandoned dog, and there was a sign posted on the island to that effect.
 
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