While this project is interested in wolves at scales ranging from regional to global, it focuses especially on wolves in the territory of the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Nation, in the temperate rainforests on the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Canada.

This is one of the few places in the world where wolves face very little human persecution (such as hunting and trapping). At the individual level, this makes it one one of the few places where wolves can grow old. At the pack level, this is one of the few places where packs have elders. Wolves here are known for their unique ecology - with many fed as much by the sea and its resources as the land. They also have deep cultural connections, having lived alongside Haíɫzaqv and neighbouring Nations since time immemorial. Learning from these wolves provides not only insight into this particular bright spot for wolves, but can provide important lessons for understanding the wolf as a species more broadly - being some of the few wolves in the world who can lead their lives unimpeded, they might also act as rare benchmarks - one of the few places where wolves can actually be wolves - and where we might learn insights into true wolf behaviour outside of the constant human stresses that can affect so much of wolf dynamics elsewhere.

The Place of Wolves

Our work considers the place of wolves in two ways - by learning from wolves in this place where wolves play such a key ecological and cultural role, and also learning about the place of wolves in our world and in humanity’s perception more broadly.

This place is a global rarity in being remarkably intact ecologically and culturally. Although the region has experienced industrial extraction such as logging and fishing over the past century it still contains almost all the species it held prior to European colonization - all land carnivores (wolves, bears, cougars), and a rich marine environment (whales, seabirds, fishes, sea otters, rich intertidal zones). It is also still home to people who have shaped and been shaped by this place for millennia:  far from a “wilderness” devoid of people. Wolves have lived alongside people here for millennia, they are neighbours not only in the physical sense but also close relatives. This closeness is reflected in Hailzaqv first ancestors, in the past switching between human and wolf form - with one such ancient transformation still reflected the red colouration seen in wolves here to this day. Wolves are treated with the respect demanded of this species so like us, and with recognition of the knowledge and wisdom they hold.

Remarkably, wolves here live long lives not only out in the more remote stretches of the territory, but right alongside the community. The ‘urban pack’ at the edge of Bella Bella is present year-round right on the outskirts of town (though is only seen on occasion). Despite such proximity, conflict with wolves here is exceedingly rare, with the ‘urban’ pack consistently having old wolves as members - a phenomenon often assumed to be possible only in formalized parks and protected areas. The Nation’s stewardship of the whole territory, from the town to more remote corners, ensures that this will remain not only a place of wolves, but also a place for wolves, for millennia to follow.



As we learn further about not just the wolves themselves but also how they and people live alongside one another to this day in this place, we learn more about the place wolves can have with people in the past, present, and the future, a bright spot for wolf conservation globally. The notion that wolves and people can share a place is not an aspirational hope, a pie-in-the-sky ideal, but a reality on the ground here to this day, as it has been since time before memory. As we shed more light on this success here, we hope it might provide insights into how both species can live side-by-side elsewhere.