The Great Bear Rainforest is a haven for wolves. Historically, wolves lived in every habitat of the Northern Hemisphere that supported large mammals. Today, grey wovles are found only in a handful of places in Canada and the United States.

This past century has seen a drastic, human-made decline in grey wolf populations. Habitat loss, traps and poison dramatically reduced their numbers.

Grey wolves of coastal rainforests at one time populated most of the west coast of North America as far south as California.

BC's coastal wolves are notably different than their interior relatives. This diversity is most likely because the coastal wolves did not suffer the same degree of persecution as wolves elsewhere in the world. However, substantial evidence suggests coastal wolves are vulnerable to industrial forestry.

The grey wolves' diet predominately depends on deer, which in turn require abundant forage of the old growth temperate rainforest to thrive. Without the forest, deer populations will decline, impacting coastal grey wolf populations.

Only on the coast are grey wolves known to catch and eat salmon.

photos: Adrian Dorst (banner), Tom Green (centre)