Kenton Joel Carnegie Wolf Attack

Kenton Joel Carnegie Wolf Attack

Kenton Joel Carnegie (11 February 1983 – 8 November 2005) was a Canadian geological engineering student. A judicial inquest carried out by the Provincial Government of Saskatchewan in 2007 concluded that he was killed by wolves on 8 November 2005 at Points North Landing, Saskatchewan, Canada. The conclusion of the official inquest drew later criticism because previous and more authoritative investigations disagreed with the inquest's findings. The unresolved matter of how Carnegie died is the subject of ongoing controversy.

Although there were no eyewitnesses to the attack, there had been several previous incidents in the region of wolves and black bears acting aggressively toward people. The official investigation initiated by the Chief Coroner of Saskatchewan was carried out by internationally renowned carnivore biologist Dr. Paul Paquet and Royal Canadian Police forensic anthropologist Dr. Ernest Walker, who concluded that Carnegie died as the result of a violent predatory attack, either by wolves (Canis lupus) or an American black bear (Ursus americanus). Bear expert Dr. Stephen Herrero came to the same conclusion, although Herrero believed the responsible predator was likely a black bear. An independent investigation by the National Geographic Society (NGS), led by animal behaviorist Dr. Jane Packard and forensic anthropologist Dr. Gary Haynes, concurred with the equivocal results of the official investigation. Similarly, bear specialist Wayne McRory concluded that a black bear was the probable predator after reviewing the physical evidence. Later, private investigations conducted on behalf of the Carnegie family by ethologist Dr. Valerius Geist, and wildlife biologist Mark McNay strengthened the case for the wolf theory. The conclusions of a third investigation commissioned by the Carnegie family and conducted by wildlife biologist Dr. Brent Patterson were equivocal, although Patterson believed wolves were most likely responsible. Among the various investigators, only Paquet and Haynes visited and carried out an onsite assessment of the accident scene.