Wolf Country: Eleven Years Tracking the Algonquin Wolves

Wolves arouse a passion in people. Some are fascinated by them; others simply hate them. Time and time again, John Theberge has been confronted by angry farmers who repeat the same refrain: "What good is a wolf, anyway?"Theberge, together with his wife, colleagues and students, has been studying the wolves of Algonquin Park in central Ontario for more than a decade. He is motivated not so much by affection for wolves, although he has come to know them as well as any individual alive, but by respect for the intricate relationships that sustain them. For him, the study of wolves has led to investigations into myriad elements that shape wolf habitat, from the prevalence of certain tree species, to the effect of parasites on white-tailed deer.In Wolf Country, Theberge describes the lives of the wolves he came to know. In telling their stories, he also tells something about the questions he set out to answer: whether wolf packs aggressively defend their territories; whether wolves kill more of their prey than the prey population can sustain; and whether pack behavior supports the idea of the survival of the best-fit group.What he found is unfailingly intriguing. In some respects, it is also disheartening. Too often, the pursuit of a radio-collared wolf led him to a trapper's snare. In some years, as many as 50 percent of the park's wolves were killed by humans. Among Theberge's conclusions: the supposedly protected park wolves are a population under siege: fractured, scattered, barely able to survive.Theberge took his conclusions to the ministry responsible for the park. He fought for a ban on wolf killing along the park's boundaries. He won a partial ban, but not before he hadseen the head of one of his wolves nailed to a pole in a town outside the park. This is a fascinating and inspiring story told by a man for whom the appreciation of science and life are inseparable.