Nine wolves have lost their lives due to vehicle collisions on a section of unfenced highway within Yoho National Park over the last five years.
Parks Canada reports that the most recent incident involved an adult female wolf, which was killed on October 17.
Experts indicate that these fatalities underscore the critical need for wildlife fencing and crossings along this highway segment, where enhancements have been suggested for several years.
The unfenced highway spans approximately 40 kilometers west of Lake O’Hara, traversing Yoho National Park.
The park is home to a primary wolf pack, and Parks Canada verifies that two of the nine wolves killed on the roadway were part of this pack—one in 2023 and another in 2024. Both individuals were equipped with tracking collars.
Parks Canada notes that this highway section lies within the territory of the pack, and the ages and locations of the other seven wolves suggest they might also belong to it. However, the agency cannot definitively confirm their pack membership.
Much of the Trans-Canada Highway through Yoho National Park remains a two-lane, undivided road without wildlife fencing or crossings. (Evelyne Asselin/Radio-Canada)
Parks Canada also states it is unclear what the current size of the Yoho pack is. According to the agency, tracking and collaring wolves poses significant challenges for researchers.
Typically, wolf packs consist of five to nine individuals, explains Shelley Alexander, a wolf researcher from the University of Calgary.
Wolves exist in close-knit family units, and the loss of even a single member can impact the entire pack, she adds.
“It will undoubtedly alter the dynamics,” Alexander asserts. “Each wolf has a specific role within the family.”
She explains that the loss of adult wolves may hinder the pack’s hunting capabilities and result in the loss of knowledge passed down through generations.
Having studied wolves in Banff National Park during the 1990s and 2000s, when parts of the Trans-Canada Highway lacked wildlife fencing and crossings, she witnessed how vehicle collisions were a major factor in the decline of a wolf family in that park around twenty years ago.
“The population was drastically reduced, and it took considerable time for them to repopulate and establish themselves again,” she recalls.
She warns that a similar situation could arise in Yoho if most of the nine wolves killed on the highway were indeed part of the main pack.
Moreover, she emphasizes that roads are not the only threat they encounter.
“For many of these wolves, the reality is that they cannot spend their entire lives within a protected area,” she points out. “They will have to traverse lands where they could be shot or hunted.”
Advocacy for highway enhancements
Wildlife ecologist Tony Clevenger, who has researched highway safety for three decades, authored a report in 2017 addressing wildlife fatalities on the highway through Yoho.
He highlights that this particular stretch stands out because neighboring mountain parks like Banff have premier protections for wildlife.
<p“Here we have this one section in Yoho National Park, which is equally significant as the other side in Banff National Park, yet it remains unaddressed,” he states.
Clevenger notes that other species, including grizzly bears, cougars, elk, and deer, also suffer fatalities on this highway.
Studies conducted in Banff National Park demonstrate that wildlife fencing and crossings are effective in safeguarding animals.
Parks Canada states that Banff National Park features 82 kilometers of wildlife fencing and 44 wildlife crossings — the highest concentration in a single location globally. (Parks Canada)
Since the implementation of fencing and crossing structures in Banff, Parks Canada reports that wildlife-vehicle collisions have dropped by over 80 percent.
Clevenger also points out the highway poses a danger to drivers due to wildlife collisions and its continued status as a two-lane road. He observes that much of the Trans-Canada Highway in the surrounding area has been expanded to four lanes, with barriers separating opposing traffic to minimize the risk of head-on collisions.
Parks Canada has intentions to widen the highway and incorporate wildlife fencing and crossings.
However, the project has yet to secure federal funding.
In a statement to CBC News, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) did not disclose any information regarding potential funding for highway upgrades.
ECCC reported that it has invested over $375 million in the Trans-Canada Highway across four mountain national parks since 2014.
Parks Canada asserts it “takes wildlife mortality seriously and continues to monitor wildlife populations and wildlife-vehicle collisions in Yoho National Park.”
The federal agency further indicates it employs various strategies to mitigate animal fatalities, including “wildlife monitoring, managing wildlife attractants, and installing driver-awareness signage.”
Clevenger expresses frustration over the lack of government action.
“They’ve been discussing this for an extended period. It’s time to complete the work,” he states.
Clevenger warns that as park visitation continues to rise each year, more wildlife will likely be killed on the highway until the necessary improvements are implemented.