An addition to RRU’s wildlife

At Royal Roads, we’re used to seeing many species of wildlife on campus, but this year has brought an uncommon sight – the Vancouver Coastal Island wolf.

A subspecies of the grey wolf, these wolves are found throughout northern Vancouver Island. Some recent reports have placed wolves in Sooke – and a few have recently been seen and heard on the RRU campus.

“Royal Roads’ campus is home to a number of the island’s wildlife,” says Royal Roads CFO Cheryl Eason. “Within the campus’ old growth forest you might spot cougars year-round, or black bears most summers. By following some simple safety guidelines, we can share this beautiful place with wildlife.”

Wolves are shy, according to the BC Conservation Service, and usually avoid humans. But they may attack off-leash dogs.

“For your dog’s safety, you must keep them on leash at Royal Roads,” says RRU Safety and Environment Officer Richard Doyle. “This rule is more important now than ever to follow.  We want your canine companions to be safe. It’s also important to keep small children within arm’s reach.”

You can find more information on wolves from the BC Conservation Service.

(Note: The photo above, Coastal Wolves of the BC Rainforest or, Who’s a Good Dog? by A. Davey, was not taken on campus. We are using it under Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, with our thanks to the photographer.)