The tale of the Chatam and Discovery Island wolf is one of wonder and intrigue.
He howls, he eats seals, and he swims from Discovery to Chatham, sometimes making the crossing by low tide.
Few, if anyone, know Takaya (the wolf) better than Songhees employee Ian Cesarec, who is the only person allowed to beach on the Chatham Islands and north Discovery Island, which are sacred, unceded Songhees lands (known traditionally as Tlchess).
鈥淗e鈥檚 a lot like a dog, he will come within 20 feet of me, sit down and scratch behind his ear,鈥� Cesarec said. 鈥淓ven when I don鈥檛 see him I can get a good idea of where he is by some of the evidence around me.鈥�
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There鈥檚 been plenty of stories about the wolf but seldom do they involve Cesarec. However, as the Songhees Land Enforcement officer, no one sees Takaya more often. Cesarec鈥檚 weekly duties include kicking people off the islands (the south half of Discovery is managed by B.C. Parks but despite clear signage delineating the Songhees land, Songhees are now fighting decades of unmonitored trespassing) and cleaning up illegal campfires.
That鈥檚 where he runs into Takaya.
During Cesarec鈥檚 travels, which include monitoring Tlchess with several cameras and a Transport Canada-permited drone, he has witnessed that the male coastal wolf regularly traverses the islands and archipelago on a 36-hour tour.
With feet like flippers, Takaya鈥檚 paws leave fresh footprints on the beach after a each tidal flush. Takaya鈥檚 scat has been analyzed and his diet is almost all seal or sealion. Hundreds of seals frequent the exposed rocks off the islands and Cesarec can tell when they gather in an unusual spot, that Takaya has been near.
鈥淗e has feet like flippers but one thing I haven鈥檛 seen is him swimming,鈥� Cesarec said. 鈥淥nce a massive sealion washed up dead on the beach and that was a lot of food for the wolf. He ate it for a while.鈥�
As reported, Takaya showed up about seven years ago. Cesarec鈥檚 been privy to research on the wolf that others haven鈥檛.
Takaya鈥檚 hair was analyzed and it matches a pack in the Campbell River region that uses the BC Hydro lines to travel up and down Vancouver Island. Something obviously happened that he was rejected from the pack. Around 2012, a wolf was spotted along the east coast of Vancouver Island as far south as Mill Bay.
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He then presumedly swam the Saanich Inlet as he was sighted on the Saanich Peninsula before arriving at Chatham.
Boaters witnessed Takaya swim to Trial Island where the lighthouse keeper had dogs, but that was a short trip.
鈥淚 sometimes wonder why he doesn鈥檛 swim over to Ten Mile Point, it鈥檚 only a few minutes swim and there鈥檚 plenty of deer,鈥� Cesarec said. 鈥淥r maybe he has, and he didn鈥檛 like it.鈥�
But only nature would know, and Takaya clearly likes the quiet solitude, and seals, of the Songhees lands over the bustling roads and fenced off gardens of Ten Mile Point.
One thing that鈥檚 certain is no one should go near him, let alone feed him or interfere with his ways.
鈥淗e鈥檚 healthy, he has plenty of food, trust me, I see the seal remains,鈥� Cesarec said. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 need anything.鈥�
