Grizzly wolf kill questioned

GROUSE DEATH

By Laurel Wellman, 24 hours

Though a North Shore bear advocate says the Grouse Mountain incident in which a grizzly bear killed a wolf shouldn't have happened, the veterinarian who oversees the program says the two species have cohabited successfully in captivity in Germany and Sweden for years.

With the approval of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection the wildlife refuge on Grouse Mountain last week put its two grizzly bears and small wolf pack in the same enclosure.

The idea, said Dr. Ken Macquisten, the refuge's veterinarian, is to "stimulate" both species. But on Tuesday night, a bear killed one of the wolves.

Barbara Murray, a former member of the North Shore Black Bear Association, said the incident shows wolves and bears shouldn't be kept together.

"It's so far from what happens in the wild, it's not funny."

But Macquisten said grizzlies and wolves are seen feeding on the same carcasses in the wild. "They interact and they compete."

In fact, he said, in other situations in which wolves and bears are kept in the same enclosures, "most of (the wolves') interaction and aggression is with each other. Captive wolves can be really tough on each other."