Two people were injured Monday when a wolf bit them as they were stopped for construction work along the Dalton Highway, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers learned of the attack near Coldfoot, at Mile 37 of the highway, shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to an online report.
“Investigation revealed a wolf bit the two motorists in their lower extremities while they were stopped in a construction zone and out of their vehicle while waiting for the pilot car,” troopers said. “The wolf fled into the woods after being shot at by another motorist and is not believed to have been struck.”
Troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said the attack occurred as the motorists – both Alaskans – were outside their camper and examining it. Multiple other commercial vehicles were stopped in the area at the time.
The Dalton extends more than 400 miles north, linking Livengood in the state’s Interior with Deadhorse and the state’s Prudhoe Bay oilfields. The isolated highway, seen on the TV show “Ice Road Truckers,” is the primary overland link to the North Slope.
McDaniel said that the black wolf was showing behavior consistent with having been fed by motorists prior to Tuesday’s incident – including a lack of fear of humans.
“The wolf would stop at vehicles, kind of look like he was expecting food or some type of handout from the vehicle before proceeding on to the next vehicle,” McDaniel said.
The people bitten by the wolf continued south and received medical care in Fairbanks, McDaniel said. Troopers didn’t have word on whether they had suffered rabies or other infections from the wolf bites.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers were consulting with state Department of Fish and Game biologists Tuesday to determine whether they should seek out the wolf involved in the attack, McDaniel said. Requests to the Fairbanks Fish and Game office for comment weren’t immediately answered Tuesday afternoon.
Wolf attacks on people are rare in Alaska, but Chignik Lake teacher Candice Berner was killed by wolves in 2010 as she went jogging near the Alaska Peninsula village. Homer public radio station KBBI reported that Fish and Game biologists killed eight wolves following the attack, one of them positively identified as one of the wolves that attacked Berner. Her death came a year after Bethel public radio station KYUK reported that a moose hunter survived an attack by a rabid wolf along the Kuskokwim River.
Last June, Fairbanks public radio station KUAC reported that a Coldfoot-based wildlife trooper shot and killed a male wolf that was attacking semi trucks’ tires along the Dalton. A necropsy showed signs of malnutrition, but no indication that the wolf in that incident was rabid.
Based on the behavior of the wolf in Monday’s attack, troopers urged people not to feed wild animals.
“Even though these individuals were not feeding the wolf, it was observed to be exhibiting behavior indicative of having been fed by other motorists,” troopers said in the dispatch. “Feeding wildlife is not only dangerous but also illegal and punishable with a fine.”
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
