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He noted the day use area remains open, because it’s far enough away from the carcass.

It’s believed the wolves are part of the same pack that chased and killed a deer in the middle of the Banff townsite last month, prompting a warning to residents.

“We’ve certainly had an increasing number of wolf sightings in the past month or so,” said Gummer, noting there’s at least five wolves in the pack. Some are grey in colour, while others are black.

The same pack also killed an elk calf along Vermilion Lakes a week ago.

“People were able to see the wolves pulling on the carcass throughout the day (on Sept. 12),” he said, noting they didn’t have to close the area because the pack was far enough away for people to watch from a safe distance.

Photo by Amar Athwal / For the Calgary Herald

It’s not yet known whether the wolves are part of a particular pack in Banff National Park, but he suspects it’s a newly formed Bow Valley pack.

“They certainly seem to have taken up some space in the vicinity of the townsite and be quite active in this area,” Gummer said. “We are very closely monitoring their behaviour and, in a couple of instances, we have had to respond.”

In August, they removed the deer carcass from the townsite. They’ve also had to haze the wolves out of the area on other occasions to discourage them from entering high-use areas of the townsite on other occasions, he said.

“For the most part, their activity has been concentrated in the surrounding habitats,” said Gummer, adding staff haven’t seen any aggressive behaviour by the wolves — although he noted they can act defensively if they’re startled when they are eating.