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Algonquin Provincial Park is one of several areas where people are encouraged to "howl" at the
wolves in hopes of a response from the wild wolves in the area. In August, 1996, the Delventhal family of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were spending a nine-day family vacation in Algonquin and joined a group of Scouts in
"howling" at the wolves. They were answered by the howl of a solitary wolf.
That night the Delventhals decided to sleep out under the stars. Young Zachariah was dreaming when
he suddenly felt excruciating pain in his face. A lone wolf had bit him in the face and was dragging him from his
sleeping bag. Zach screamed and Tracy, Zach's Mother, raced to his side and picked him up, saturating her thermal
shirt with blood from Zach's wounds.
The wolf stood menacingly less than a yard away. Tracy yelled at her husband, Thom, who leapt from
his sleeping bag and charged the wolf. The wolf retreated and then charged at Tracy and Zach. The charges were
repeated. Finally the wolf left. Thom turned a flashlight on 11-year-old Zach and gasped "Oh, my God!" "The boy's
face had been ripped open. His nose was crushed. Parts of his mouth and right cheek were torn and dangling. Blood
gushed from puncture wounds below his eyes, and the lower part of his right ear was missing." Zach was taken to a
hospital in Toronto where a plastic surgeon performed four hours of reconstructive surgery. Zach received more than
80 stitches in his face. Canadian officials baited the Delventhals' campsite and captured and destroyed a 60-lb
wild male wolf. No further attacks have occurred since. (Cook, Kathy; "Night of the Wolf" READER'S DIGEST, July
1997, pp. 114-119.)
Humans have been attacked by wolves in Alaska. The late David Tobuk carried scars on his face from
a wolf attack on him as a small child. The incident occurred around the turn of the century in interior Alaska.
David was playing in his village near a river. An old wolf came into the village and bit David in the face and
started to carry him off. Other Eskimos saw the wolf dragging the child off and started yelling and screaming. The
wolf dropped the child and was shot by an old Eskimo trapper who had a gun. (Interview with Frank Tobuk, brother,
Bettles, Alaska, December 1988.)
Paul Tritt, an Athabascan Indian, was attacked by a lone wolf while working a trap line. Paul was
setting a snare, looked up and saw a wolf lunging at him. He threw his arm up in front of his face and it was
bitten severely by the wolf. A struggle ensued. Tritt was able to get to his sled, grab a gun and kill the wolf.
Nathaniel Frank, a companion, helped Tritt wash the wound with warm water. Frank took Tritt, via dog sled, to Fort
Yukon to see a doctor. The arm healed, but Tritt never regained full use of it. Several years later, the arm
developed problems and had to be amputated. (Interview with Paul Tritt, Venetie, Alaska, November, 1988)
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