Novelist Questions Canada's No-Kill Wolf Policy Through Gripping Fiction
In a thought-provoking new work of fiction, author Susan Crockford challenges Canada's longstanding no-kill wolf policy within national parks. Her novel Don't Run serves as both entertainment and social commentary, examining the complex relationship between humans and wolves in protected areas.
Tragic History Informs Contemporary Debate
The discussion around wolf safety gained tragic momentum in April 1996 when newly-graduated biologist Patricia Wyman was mauled to death at the Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre Sanctuary. A wolf biologist later commented that her love of wolves may have made her "a little more bold than she should have been." This incident raises questions about whether common perceptions of wolves as harmless to humans contributed to this tragedy.
For decades, the image of the benign wolf has been promoted in Canadian culture, most notably through Farley Mowat's internationally popular 1963 best-seller Never Cry Wolf. This fictional account of the author's experiences bonding with wolves created what wildlife behaviour expert Valerius Geist later called "the myth of the benign wolf." In a 2008 article, Geist noted that while biologists knew Mowat's romantic homage was inaccurate, it nevertheless became a politically correct narrative that influenced public perception and potentially policy decisions.
Real-World Wolf Conflicts on Vancouver Island
The novel draws inspiration from actual conditions that have developed on Vancouver Island over several decades. In the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve Long Beach Unit, including the tourist towns of Tofino and Ucluelet, wolves have experienced significant population changes:
- In the early 1900s, wolves were hunted extensively for their fur
- Later government population policies nearly wiped them out completely
- Around 1970, wolves began reclaiming Vancouver Island territory
- Today, an estimated 350 wolves inhabit the island
Meanwhile, the human population has grown to approximately 800,000 residents, with most living along the shoreline. Heavy logging has reduced deer foraging areas, starving out wolves' preferred prey. For a quarter century, wolves and humans rarely crossed paths, but between 1997 and 2003, there were 51 worrisome encounters between humans and wolves, including seven fatal dog attacks and one severe human wounding.
Don't Run: Fiction Grounded in Scientific Reality
Zoologist Susan Crockford, a longtime Vancouver Island resident with academic specialization in wolf evolution, brings both scientific expertise and storytelling skill to her novel. The title Don't Run refers to the proper response when encountering a lone wolf: stand your ground and attempt to scare the animal away rather than fleeing.
The novel is set in the Tofino-Ucluelet Pacific Rim corridor during the winter of 2029. In this slightly futuristic scenario, "superpacks" of wolves numbering 30-40 animals instead of the usual six or seven have been attacking dogs, decimating livestock, and even killing and eating people. The story follows an RCMP safety specialist sent to investigate escalating wolf aggression, encountering various stakeholders including:
- Lifetime residents of affected communities
- Livestock owners facing economic losses
- Indigenous community members with traditional knowledge
- Tourist parents of wolf attack victims
- Parks Canada representatives responsible for policy implementation
Through these characters, Crockford presents a realistic spectrum of regional attitudes toward wolves, creating what Barbara Kay describes as "a pacey, plausible read that subliminally asks the reader to take a policy stand." The novel serves as both entertainment and a dramatized exhortation to privilege reason over emotion in wild-animal conservation policy.
Broader Implications for Conservation Policy
The central question raised by both the novel and the real-world incidents that inspired it concerns Canada's no-kill wolf policy in national parks. As honest biologists acknowledge, when wild prey becomes scarce for natural or human-made reasons, wolves will turn to whatever is available: if deer are unavailable, they may target dogs, livestock, and potentially humans. Habituation to humans can embolden wolves further, creating dangerous situations in areas where human and wolf territories overlap.
Crockford's work joins a growing body of literature that questions whether current conservation policies adequately address the complex realities of human-wildlife coexistence. By presenting these issues through fiction, she makes the scientific and policy discussions accessible to a broader audience while maintaining factual accuracy about wolf behavior and ecology.
The novel ultimately challenges readers to consider whether emotion-driven conservation policies serve both human and wolf populations effectively, or whether more nuanced approaches might better address the realities of shared habitats in Canada's national parks.
