Wolf

Wolves in Newfoundland have been extinct since 1930 so I have never seen a wolf in the wild. When I worked in Northern Ontario as a young geology student in the late 60s I often heard wolves howling in the evenings, but didn't see any.

In the early 1970s I saw wolves in small cages in several wildlife parks and hated to see them pacing back and forth. Enclosures in modern zoos are much bigger, but the wolves in Calgary Zoo were still pacing around their enclosure. The white wolf shown in today's photos was howling as we walked by, then it wandered around the enclosure stopping a couple of times for me to take its photo.

Wildlife Park

For years I refused to photograph animals in zoos and wildlife parks because I hated seeing the animals in cages. In fact, I remember that during my first visit to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park back in the early 70s that the animals were kept in small cages. I am happy that animals are kept in much larger enclosures these days. I still don't like to see animals that are caged, but realize that the animals kept at many parks were injured and may have died if they hadn't been brought there. In addition, I have been able to view (and photograph) animals and birds that I would never have seen in the wild.

The photos today show wolves, bears and a river otter that were looking through the wire fences of their enclosures.