JEFF HOLUBITSKY, JOURNAL LIFE WRITER
Edmonton, The Edmonton Journal, September 5, 1999.
'Officially I'm retired but unofficially I 'm more active than I 've ever been – I still have students, conduct research, go to symposia and write scientific papers. '
When Vancouver police recently found the gnawed skull of a murdered young prostitute and wanted to know what kind of animal had done the damage, they called on Edmonton 's Lu Carbyn.
When Ted Turner 's foundation was developing plans to return a big chunk of Nebraska ranchland back to the wilds, they asked Lu Carbyn for advice.
When David Suzuki made a TV show about the wolves and bison of Wood Buffalo National Park, he called on Lu Carbyn.
Despite the claims of Farley Mowat ( 'Good fiction and good reading, ' says Carbyn), the 58 year old wolf biologist is actually the first human to study wolves from the middle of the pack.
In the early ‘70s, the Canadian Parks and Wildlife sent Carbyn into the woods of Jasper National Park to find out why wolves weren 't doing a better job at controlling the park 's elk population.
Similar to the way Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees or Dianne Fossey observed mountain gorillas, he used a technique called habituation.
He found the safe place where adults would leave cubs and, over a number of days, he hiked down the same path, sat under the same tree and progressively stayed longer and longer until the wolves were used to his presence.
I was literally right among the wolves, ' he says. 'People had said it could be done, but no one had done it before and I was just absolutely astounded at how well it worked.
It was really amazing to see these carnivores, these big predators. It was a privilege. '
Only once did he feel threatened, and that was by a member of another pack.
I 've never had a fear of wolves, ' he says. 'Though sometimes I 've worried about bears because they track wolves. '
David Mech, famous for his own studies of the wolves of northern Minnesota, has worked with Carbyn since the early 1970s.
Lu is one of the top wolf scientists in the world, ' says Mech, who also invited Carbyn to be the Canadian member of the prestigious International Wolf Specialist Group.
There are other Canadian wolf biologists that I could have put on the team but Lu was on from the start and I 've kept him on because he 's such a suitable member, ' says Mech.
He 's got the ability to look at several sides of the wolf controversy and he 's not one of these people who think a wolf should never be killed … but rather he understands that there are times and places where wolves have to be controlled.
But where they are not conflicting with humans the should be allowed to thrive. '
Ludwig Carbyn grew up in Namibia, in southern Africa.
His forester father taught him many of the basic about nature and as a young boy he spent hours sitting under a camel thorn tree watching the myriad birds around a local water hole.
I wrote my first article for a wildlife journal when I was nine years old and I got a prize for it, ' he says. 'It was for my observations of cattle egrets. '
His family moved to New Brunswick when he was 11 and he quickly became absorbed by the new temperate forests which were so different from the dry African savanna.
I met an old trapper and he was a fascinating old guy – Henry Fagan, ' Carbyn remembers. 'He really got me into a Canadian northwoods frame of mind. '
Fagan also taught the young Carbyn how to find and trap bobcats, mink and red foxes – skills which would serve him well in years to come.
In the early ‘80s he was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Clifford E. Lee Wildlife Sanctuary near his acreage home where he lives with his architect wife Jaynne Carre. (He also has two grown daughters by an earlier marriage: Shellie, a teacher and Christa, an interior designer.)
I was involved originally because when I settled there I found that area and thought let 's develop a reserve.
It was kind of a selfish thing, I guess, because it 's right in my backyard. '
With its vast number of waterfowl, the preserve is a perfect place for Carbyn and Carre to enjoy their favourite hobby together – birdwatching.
We take our binoculars along and do it everywhere, ' says Carre. This summer, the couple travelled together to Europe, Carre attending a conference in Helsinki and Carbyn seeking out birdwatching spots and soaking up history.
He has a real passion for history and people 's cultural background, ' she says.
Ironically, Carre has never been to Carbyn 's beloved Wood Buffalo National Park in the couple 's three years of marriage.
But before he goes on his backwoods trips, she often helps him check his camping equipment.
We 'll just camp in the yard. '
She also takes credit for recently introducing her husband to two new hobbies – completely separate from the wild 's: ballroom dancing and motorcycling.
He 's a beginner in both but he 's gung ho to try new things. '
Every year since 1985, he 's travelled to Wood Buffalo park to closely observe its wolves and bison. His research originally started as a government project, however, he has continued for more than a decade at his own expense.
The real problem with government research is that it 's done over short cycles, ' he says. 'In order to be meaningful and logical you have to provide continuity and in this case I 've provided it myself. '
This fall he 'll be speaking about his work with wolves and bison at a conference in Texas and he 's also been invited to be the guest speaker at the U.S. premier showing of an IMAX film on wolves.
I 've been impressed at how effective the bison are at developing what we call an anti predator mechanism where they shake off the wolves.
And on the other hand, the persistence of the wolves is incredible. '
Carbyn says that between five and 10 per cent of the northern buffalo herds have stubby tails after close calls with the predator.
He remembers one drama which lasted from 7 a.m. to sundown, where a wolf pack stubbornly pursued one bison calf.
They physically had the calf down nine times … They 'd bite the calf and it would just bounce back, they never ripped it open. '
In the end, the calf miraculously survived and is documented along with dozens of others in his many scientific papers. His critically acclaimed books have brought him international attention.
He helped the CBC 's David Suzuki film a Nature of Things episode in Wood Buffalo Park in the mid ‘80s, but it was his work with BBC film makers that brought the wolves of the north to a huge audience.
It 's remarkable, ' says Mech. 'You actually see the wolves bring down a huge buffalo and eat it alive.
The point is that while Lu was learning this stuff it was also being filmed for the world. '
This month he 'll travel to Vancouver to work with the RCMP, Carbyn says as he pulls a chilling picture of a fresh human skull from his desk drawer.
It is still red with blood, but picked clean of tissue. Its fine and extensive dental work resting in snow of the forest floor.
This was chewed by cats, ' he says of the remains of the murdered young woman.
I told them it wasn 't a canid (dog family member) because a canid would have crushed the bones. '
Looking carefully at the picture, he points out a faint footprint in the snow. It is like a housecat 's print, but many ties larger.
I looked closely and sure enough, here it is. '
His next case will be to help police locate parts another body likely dragged away by a scavenger.
A cougar might have taken it to a ledge, ' he predicts.
With wolves, Carbyn is associated with one of the glamour animals of the conservation cause, but they 're not his primary concern.
The wolves will be all right, ' he says.
Rather it 's the everyday, constant erosion of the natural environment that worries him the most.
Driving to work over the past 24 years, Carbyn has seen important duck ponds turned into suburban neighbourhoods.
On 199th Street where that new development is, is a major, major staging area for geese and ducks, ' he says. 'In fact just two or three days ago, geese were circling around that area that 's been taken over. '
Carbyn wants the city to adopt more aggressive conservation measures to protect big ponds, sloughs and black spruce boggy areas, much as it started to in the mid 1980s.
He 's also recently given his views to city council on the importance of preserving Edmonton 's Little Mountain area.
If the city had pursued the matter of identifying and protecting natural areas and continued on with it, we would have had some really nice representative marshes and woodlands where the city grows around rather than pushing out in one big front.
It 's to everybody 's benefit. It 's scenic. It 's nice to see natural areas. Kids growing up in our communities would be close to nature and could watch frogs, ponds and ducks. '
Carbyn says he 's not against development, but insists that government must protect lands long before they produce a glint in a developer 's eyes.
You can 't expect developers to be far sighted because they have their vested economic interest in mind. … The city should have a head start on these areas.
Edmonton Journalm Reports: [Special Places 2000] [Endangered Species of Western Canada]