wildlife road crossing pathways and culverts must be expanded if wolves and other predators to be with us into the forever--sad story below of how tough it is for wild animals to make it safely across busy roads

A wolf named Delinda
Photographer John E. Marriott followed a gray wolf pack in the Bow Valley for over a year and learned a touching lesson about wildlife conservation.
By Jessica Sims
Most people would turn and run if they came face-to-face with a large, yellow-eyed wolf emerging from a cloud of snow on a secluded stretch of highway. Yet photographer John E. Marriott stood still and took a picture.
Her name was Delinda, and she was the alpha female of the gray wolf pack in the Bow Valley, which runs through Banff National Park.
When Marriott first saw her in June 2007, he knew she was different from other wolves he had photographed; she was the only one who didn't run away from him. Fascinated, he followed her for more than a year.
It was snowing heavily the day Marriott snapped this shot. After several hours tracking Delinda's pack, he had decided to stake out a position where he thought they would appear. Then, out of the white, Delinda emerged.
It was the 10th time he had run into her, and the more Marriott encountered her, the more he saw just how exceptional she was. Tolerant of humans, she had successfully raised three consecutive litters in the Bow Valley, a place full of man-made dangers.
The largest tract of wildlife habitat in Banff National Park, the Bow Valley links busy towns such as Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise, and is lined by railway tracks and several roads, including the Trans-Canada Highway.

Click map to enlarge

Unfortunately, Delinda couldn't escape these dangers for long. She was forced to move her den away from the slower speeds of the Bow Valley Parkway and closer to the Trans-Canada after it was disrupted by human activity, says Marriott. Then, in August 2008, Delinda snuck through a hole in the fence along this unfamiliar road and was struck by traffic.
After Delinda's death, Marriott witnessed her pack's collapse — today more than half of the 12 wolves have been killed on the highway. Although 24 wildlife crossings already exist along the Trans-Canada, by 2012 Parks Canada hopes to build an additional 20 of these safe passages and securely fence the remaining 83 kilometre stretch of highway running through Banff National Park.
Saddened by what he has seen, Marriott believes this fence should be regularly patrolled and says the park could do more to protect its wildlife. "Wolves are extremely resilient — it's not the first time the Bow Valley has been without a pack. They always bounced back," he says. "But the danger lies in continuously expecting that."
Click to view more of Marriott's photos of Delinda.