A killing in Canada puts an end to the myth that wolves won't harm humans.
Feb 28, 2006
Kenton Carnegie probably recognized the wolves that followed him down the snowy Saskatchewan trail last November. They were likely
the same timber wolves-two blacks and two grays-that he had photographed two days earlier on the edge of the
north woods settlement where he was
temporarily staying.
Timber wolves are a common sight at Points North Landing, an industrial outpost carved out of northern Saskatchewan's spruce and jackpine taiga. They frequently lope across the airstrip, hang around outbuildings and scavenge in the camp's unfenced garbage dump. Truckers often spot them along graveled Route 905, the only road in and out of the community.
Carnegie, a 22-year-old college student on a short-term contract to survey the area's rich mineral deposits, was intrigued by the presence of wolves so close to the settlement. On one excursion into the woods near the compound, the Ontario man snapped photographs of nearly grown wolf pups. They approached to within just a few feet of him, leaving Carnegie curious but decidedly uneasy about their proximity.
On November 6, Carnegie showed his photos around Points North's mess hall. Bill Topping was one of a half-dozen people who saw the pictures.
"I had supper with him and his buddy and they had these photographs," says Topping, a trucker who hauls freight between northern camps and La Ronge, the regional trade center 275 miles to the southwest. "I told him he was lucky to be alive. I told him these wolves up here are hungry and they don't fear people. They thought it was something to be that close to wolves."
Death in the Snow
Two days later, on the cold night of November 8, Carnegie decided to take
a walk along a trail that traces the east shoreline of the lake near Points North. He left the camp at about 5:30 p.m.,
saying he'd be back for supper at 7:00.
It was already dark. The gregarious student probably didn't realize he was in trouble until it was too late. About 600 yards from the camp, he turned around on the trail and apparently saw a pack of wolves following him.
When Carnegie's mangled body was discovered around 7:30 p.m., prints in the bloody snow told a graphic story of coordinated pursuit, then violent predation. The footprints indicated that four wolves had shadowed Carnegie, who stopped, turned around and then tried to elude the animals before breaking into a terrified sprint for safety. The tracks suggest that the man was knocked to the ground at least twice but struggled to his feet before he was taken down a final time. The wolves reportedly fed on a portion of his body in the hour or so before a search party from camp discovered the grisly scene, scared the wolves away and recovered Carnegie's remains.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who arrived to investigate the following morning, don't make their investigations public, but RCMP spokesperson Heather Russell says the incident is
fairly straightforward.
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