The pack of wolves is unaware of the show they’re putting on as they tear into the dead beavers thrown into their enclosure at the Haliburton Forest wolf centre.
It’s their weekly feeding and five beavers have been thrown to the wolves, one for each member of the pack. Granite, a female, claims two of the five beavers. She viciously defends her territory, snapping at her sister whenever she comes close.
The visitors gasp in awe at the spectacle unfolding in front of them. These wolves aren’t part of a zoo enclosure or some Disney-like adventure. They roam freely in a 15-acre enclosure as part of the centre’s philosophy of sustaining research and education.
The wolf centre, one of only a few in the world, attracts about 20,000 visitors a year. They’re part of an expansive natural adventure program that makes up the Haliburton Forest Wildlife Reserve located in the Haliburton Highlands, about 170 kilometers northeast of Barrie. The reserve, bordering on Algonquin Park, encompasses 75,000 acres of rolling hardwood forests, 60 lakes, rivers and extensive wetlands.
The eco-tourism program is the most visible part of the reserve to the public but it’s a secondary part of a much larger plan started in 1962 aimed at preserving the forest in its natural state. A sustainable logging company is at the core of the operation. All the logging is carried out using sustainable practices under the watchful eye of qualified forestry management experts and wildlife biologists.
Only selected trees are marked for logging – no clear-cutting here – with horses used to take out fallen trees in environmentally sensitive areas. The goal is to sustain perpetual recycling of the forest. The reserve has met the stringent guidelines of the international Forest Stewardship Council ( FSC) and caters to customers who rely on wood products approved by the FSC.
Yet, the privately owned reserve has managed to seamlessly weave a massive tourism/education program into the forest. Thousands of visitors hike, bike, climb, fish, camp, hunt, snowshoe, snowmobile, and even mush dogsleds through the reserve year-round without disturbing the natural surroundings.
“It’s all about getting out and exploring the forest,” says Cameron Ferguson, an outdoor educator at the reserve. “We appeal to people of all ages. We even have an elder hostel program for people over 50. We’ve had people as old as 92 on our canopy tour.”
The canopy tour, operating in July and August, is another star attraction, featuring a half-kilometer walk along a boardwalk through the treetops some 10-20 meters above the forest floor.
The reserve lives up to its billing as a four-season adventure, closing to the public for only a few weeks in the fall to make way for hunters who occupy 22 camps on the reserve – again under the stringent monitoring and management of wildlife experts. Snowmobilers can enjoy over 300 km of groomed trails up to 20 meters wide in some places. Half a dozen shelter cabins, equipped with stoves and firewood, line the trail system. In keeping with the reserve’s sustainable philosophy, only 150 sleds are allowed on the trails in a day.
If you want a more adventurous ride, let Ice and Igor and the rest of the 135 Siberian Huskies take you on a dogsled tour through the forested trails. The dogsleds run two-hour, half-day, and full-day treks all winter, taking only Christmas Day off.
“People are surprised if they come and ask where they ride on the dogsleds and we tell them, you’re actually doing the driving,” says Ferguson. “Of course we have guides that go with them on the trails but every once in awhile one of the more experienced dogs will decide to take us on a different route and away we go. It’s great adventure.”
Naturally, there is also a more passive side to the reserve with hiking, snowshoeing, camping, fishing, astronomy and even forestry art exhibits all part of the program. In addition, a number of special programs, which include accommodation and meals, are offered for the general public or executive and corporate retreats. Every November there’s a Weekend for the Dogs program. Participants get a hands-on experience working with staff preparing the huskies for the winter ahead.
But it’s the wolf centre and its programs that make the reserve one of a kind. Visitors can observe the wolves through a glass-enclosed observatory with a staff member on hand to explain the animals’ behavior, talk about the history of the pack dating back to its origins in Michigan in 1977 or learn about the purely wild packs that also roam the reserve outside the enclosure.
On Thursdays in July and August the centre runs public wolf howls. Guides at the centre lead visitors on a howl hoping to stir the resident pack to howl back. Most years the centre boasts an 80 per cent success rate.
“For the past seven years or so, wolves have become a big thing,” says Paul Brown, who runs the centre. “I can’t really explain it. People are just so fascinated with wolves, they just can’t get enough.”
Throw Your Weekend to the Wolves
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