Takaya's arrival on the Discovery Archipelago and his island life

From January 2012, several people observed a large canine in the vicinity of the city of Victoria. In May, when approaching the Discovery Archipelago, kayakers repeatedly heard wolf howls and saw a swimming canine. Cheryl Alexander, a naturalist, ecologist and photographer decided to go in search of this mysterious wolf. It started in 2014 when Cheryl observed Takaya on one of her kayaking expeditions. Cheryl gradually entered into a certain intimacy with Takaya, a tolerance and then an acceptance settled between the two species. Cheryl was thus able to take many photographic shots of Takaya, at rest, sleeping comfortably on a carpet of coastal grass, pacing the rocks or even swimming from islet to islet.

What prompted this young 2-year-old lone wolf to settle permanently in the island environment of the Discovery Archipelago? Takaya is a Canis lupus, probably of the ligoni subspecies, well-known from the northwest coasts of North America. The wolf is a social animal that lives in packs ranging from 3-4 individuals to about fifteen members depending on the territories and environments. Dispersal is a natural phenomenon in wolves when they reach maturity, around 2 years old. Some young wolves or wolves feel the need to leave their birth territory in search of a new one to start a family. Dispersing wolves can travel distances of up to more than 1,000 km for the most enduring, before settling in a territory. The main conditions for their settlement are a space that they can monitor, mark out and rich in food: the ideal place to call a congener and form a couple. Dispersal is not without risk for wolves embarking on the adventure. Alone, taking prey is more difficult; he must cross territories where packs are already installed and risk severe or even fatal injuries. Crossing roads and traversing hunting or poaching territories also represent many challenges that the lone wolf must face.

Could Takaya have been swept away involuntarily by the strong coastal currents and thus stranded on these islands? Unlikely, given his swimming abilities which observers and Cheryl have attested to. It was then probably voluntarily that Takaya settled on this small piece of land, easy to monitor and rich in food, even if the prey there is very different from that usually encountered by wolves (deer, elk, etc.). The archipelago is notably home to a large colony of seals whose juveniles were Takaya's favorite prey. This protein-rich nutrient intake has enabled Takaya to maintain good health, even if this hunt was not without risk: one of his another, more surprising contribution of food was the hunt for eggs from ducks or geese nesting on the islands. Takaya spotted the eggs deposited on the ground by the parents, then stole some by taking them delicately in its mouth and then consuming them later.

Thus, Takaya's life consisted of hunting, resting, surveying his territory on the rocks or swimming and howling...

A lone wolf rarely howls so as not to draw attention to itself and avoid possible conflict with humans and other wolves. On the other hand, once installed on a territory that it considers secure, it probably howls to call its counterparts or a companion. In general, the howl is what “naturally” characterizes the wolf to our ears. However, the wolf has many other vocalizations such as barking, yelping, growling, etc., which Cheryl was able to observe with Takaya. One day, Cheryl, with some members of her family, had settled down quietly some distance from the shore of Discovery Island. Takaya was nearby, not very disturbed by this human presence. At one point, Takaya suddenly got up and ran towards the shore, barking as if to signify an alert... kayakers were indeed approaching the shore. Takaya probably considered Cheryl and her family to be part of his territory, so another human presence was potentially a danger.