Kenton Joel Carnegie Wolf Attack - Prior Events in Saskatchewan

Prior Events in Saskatchewan

Before Carnegie's death, there had been several incidents in Saskatchewan of wolves acting aggressively toward people. Additionally, more than 300 occurrences of black bears behaving aggressively toward humans have been documented in the Province, including three fatal attacks.

During the late summer and autumn months of 2005, the Points North dumpsite was commonly frequented by several black bears and a pack of four wolves, which were occasionally spotted along the airstrip adjacent to the camp. According to testimony from a camp worker, the wolves at the dump frequently disregarded his presence and would adjust their arrival with that of the front-end loader, tearing into the garbage bags the moment they hit the ground. This behavior suggests the wolves were uninhibited by the presence of people or loud machinery. On 4 November 2005, Todd Svarckopf and Chris Van Galder, who were stationed at the Points North camp near Wollaston Lake, decided to walk out to a nearby junkyard to look at abandoned aircraft. While passing through a forested area, the two were approached by a dark wolf only a few hundred metres from the camp compound. The two men attempted to walk back to the camp but the wolf walked directly up to Svarckopf, who yelled at it. The animal retreated a few steps but pressed forward as the men walked away, closely followed by a lighter coloured wolf. The dark wolf moved directly toward Chris and did not retreat when he yelled at it. When Svarckopf turned around to face Van Galder, the lighter coloured wolf advanced toward his back, retreating only when Svarckopf turned to face it. The two armed themselves with spruce sticks and kept the wolves at bay with swinging motions. The two men moved toward the edge of the brush line along the runway, with the wolves following but keeping out of reach of the sticks. The wolves positioned themselves between the men and the runway, in what was described as an apparent attempt to herd them back into the heavier cover. The two men moved out of the forest and onto an open runway, with the wolves still following them as they headed back to camp. The wolves were kept at bay with the sticks and only left when the two arrived at the camp compound. Several photos were taken by Van Galder near the end of the encounter. The entire incident lasted 10–15 minutes.

Svarckopf and Van Galder did not volunteer information to the RCMP investigator about their encounter with wolves, nor did they provide images of the encounter. This unusual behavior raised suspicions among investigators and brought into question the credibility of the two individuals. To add to the confusion, media versions of the event and hearsay reports from Points North employees offered several different and conflicting descriptions of the encounter.

Eventually, investigators Paquet and Walker asked the RCMP Major Crimes Unit to find Svarckopf and Van Galder and obtain statements. Van Galder never did provide a statement but 4 months after Carnegie was killed Svarckopf was interviewed by the RCMP. He reported that the wolves never growled or barked as wolves defending territory sometimes do, but snapped their teeth and jaws. Notably, this behavior is rarely displayed by wolves and is known to occur only when wolves are threatened and under extreme stress or possible attack. Additionally, Svarckopf claimed that he and Van Galder tried to warn their co-workers (including Kenton Carnegie) at the camp about the wolves, but were humorously accused of teasing the animals. Their story, however, was not corroborated by co-workers who claimed Svarckopf and Van Galder told them several different versions of what had occurred.