Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Why did this wolf decide to sniff around the tent?

Mountain News: For the week of Aug. 15
michael-larosa-kr1aer8c_wi-unsplash
A wolf (not the same animal pictured above) was recently killed in Banff National Park after it attacked a camper. UNSPLASH.COM

LAKE LOUISE, Alta.—A wolf was killed near a campground in Banff National Park recently after it bit a camper.

Parks officials said the man heard the wolf sniffing and pawing around the tent, and then it pushed on the fabric of the tent. Thinking it was a bear, the camper tried to scare it away. As he did so, the wolf grabbed his arm and tore the tent open. The man suffered minor injuries in the scuffle before the wolf ran off. Also in the tent were three of the victim's family members.

Parks Canada told the Rocky Mountain Outlook no significant wildlife attractants or food were within or near the tent. What drew the wolf? Such cases seem to be so rare in North America that nobody could put together a hypothesis.