There were a lot of ungulates and wolves on the East Slopes in the early 1950's. Some rabies cases in northern Alberta triggered a massive poisoning effort across the province which almost eliminated the wolves on the East Slopes. It took almost 20 years for wolves to make a comeback. They increased steadily from 1973 to 2000 by which time they were reducing ungulates at a high rate. Moose, elk and some deer populations have been in the predator pit caused by wolves, cougars, bears, and hunters (recreational and subsistence) since then. Predation combined with habitat degradation and hunting could keep ungulates at very low densities for many years to come.
|