#Wolf takes down elk near busy Castle Junction

Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald 

Published on: May 1, 2015

The seven-member Bow Valley wolf pack hanging out along the Bow Valley Parkway in December 2013.
Amar Athwal / For the Calgary Herald

It happens regularly in nature, but there’s not always eyewitnesses.

On Saturday, a wolf pursued and killed an elk near the Castle junction — close to the bridge crossing on the road connecting the Trans-Canada Highway to the Bow Valley Parkway. “Nothing unusual about that, that happens,” noted Brianna Burley, a human/wildlife conflict specialist with Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay national parks. “We often see a lot of wolf and ungulate activity down in that part of the world. “Some people saw it, some staff from Castle Mountain Chalets witnessed it.”

Wildlife officers were called to the area and moved the carcass under cover so that the wolves could feed on it without being disturbed. They also put a closure into effect in the area around Castle Junction. It includes the east shore of the Bow River for one kilometre upstream of the Castle River junction bridge.

The red triangle shows the closed area where wolves have been feeding on an elk carcass.

Burley said staff were going to try to get into to the area Wednesday to determine whether it could be reopened. Although she didn’t personally talk to the people who saw the takedown, she said it’s always an exciting event for the general public to witness. “It’s just neat when people get to see nature in action,” she said.

Lucky them.

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