KUDOS! Cortesians!
Recent human-wolf encounters in the Whaletown Commons exemplify the change in narrative that we, as a community, are effecting in wildlife coexistence.

Once upon a time...
...the narrative was, “The only good wolf is a dead wolf”; wolves were trapped, poisoned and shot on Cortes Island.
Today...
...the narrative is changing to, “Learning to Live with Wolves on Cortes Island”.

Cortes wolves in the Whaletown Commons, this past week, had several encounters with Cortesians recreationally walking themselves and their dogs. In each encounter, the wolves made their presence clear and the Cortesians acknowledged the wolves presence, in this important wildlife travel corridor, by leaving the area with their dogs on leash and under control.

We know... that dogs represent a territorial threat to wolves; i.e. wolves have zero tolerance for dogs.
We know... that when a wolf ‘escorts’ us & our dog back to our home or parked car, they are ensuring the territorial threat is removed from their territory.
We know... the ‘power of the leash’; wolves recognize that a dog on leash belongs to the person at the end of the leash; dogs off-leash represent fair prey.
We know... that a wolf that holds its ground on a trail we have been walking, is telling us that we may go no further; pups of the year or a recent kill may lie beyond.

We know... the Whaletown Commons is part of one of Cortes Island’s most important wildlife travel corridors; wolves travel this corridor seasonally to access rich marine food resources on Marina Island.
We know... that up to 75% of a coastal wolf’s diet may be marine based; clams, seal placenta & unhealthy seal pups on Marina Island provide rich seasonal food for Cortes wolves.

We are constantly learning how to live with wolves on Cortes Island; here’s to our continued proactive work towards a positive wildlife coexistence narrative!!!

Please find attached below, for your reference, The Cortes Community Wolf Project’s 5-point primer: Learning to Live with Wolves on Cortes Island.