The Pipestone Wolves: The Rise and Fall of a Wolf Family

A five-year observational study follows the rise and decline of the Pipestone wolf family in Banff National Park.

Wildlife researcher Günther Bloch and photographer John E. Marriott document the Pipestone wolves after they established themselves in Banff’s Bow Valley in 2008–09. Bloch’s repeated field observations provide a close view of family relationships, behaviour, territory and survival beyond what can be learned from telemetry alone.

The book examines how individual wolves responded to injury, shifting prey availability, rail mortality and increasing human pressure in one of Canada’s busiest national parks. Marriott’s wildlife photography accompanies stories of play, hunting, pup care and the changing fortunes of the family over five years.

The Pipestone Wolves also considers the tension between wildlife conservation and mass tourism in Banff, asking how management decisions affect wolves living alongside heavily used roads, trails and recreation corridors. The result combines behavioural observation, conservation, photography and the history of one remarkable wolf family.

Günther Bloch has observed wild wolves in Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Italy and North America. He is the author of six international bestselling books and several hundred magazine articles on wolf and dog behavior. He has been the owner of the Canid Behaviour Center, a research facility in Germany, since 1977. In 1999 he founded the International Symposium on Canids, where scientists from around the world share the latest research findings on canid behavior every three years. Günther first came to Canada to watch wolves in 1986. He did den-site observational research in 1993 in the Northwest Territories and studied wolf behavior in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park for Parks Canada from 1992–2003. He continued observing Bow Valley wolf behavior independently from 2003–2014. Günther lives on an acreage on the south side of the Porcupine Hills in Alberta with his wife, Karin, and dogs Timber and Raissa.

John E. Marriott is one of Canada’s premier professional wildlife and nature photographers, with a career spanning two decades and images published worldwide in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Canadian Geographic, Maclean’s, and Reader’s Digest. He is an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers and a co-founder of the EXPOSED Wildlife Conservancy. His books with RMB include The Pipestone Wolves: The Rise and Fall of a Wolf Family (with Günther Bloch), What Bears Teach Us (with Sarah Elmeligi), and The Kootenay Wolves: Five Years Following a Wild Wolf Pack. John has also produced four coffee-table books, including: Banff & Lake Louise: Images of Banff National Park, Wildlife of the Canadian Rockies: A Glimpse at Life on the Wild Side, The Canadian Rockies: Banff, Jasper & Beyond, and Tall Tales, Long Lenses: My Adventures in Photography. John prides himself on being a conservation photographer known for capturing wilderness scenes and wild, free-roaming animals in their natural habitats. He currently lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his wife, Jennifer, and his son, Porter.

Mike Gibeau is the Carnivore Specialist for Parks Canada and an Adjunct Professor in the Geography Department at the University of Calgary. He also maintains an office with the Alberta Cooperative Conservation Research Unit. Mike has extensive experience in the ecology and management of large carnivores including research on coyotes, wolves, black bears and grizzly bears, with a decade of research dedicated to investigating the impacts of human activity on grizzly bears. Much of his time is currently spent coordinating grizzly bear conservation and policy programs in the mountain National Parks. He also advises decision makers on management of large carnivores in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Mike is not only involved in the biology of large carnivores but has a keen interest in interdisciplinary problem solving, the social context of carnivore conservation and the links between science and policy. His focus lies in applying innovative conservation measures on the ground. He has a MSc in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and a PhD in Conservation Biology from the University of Calgary. Mike has spent close to 30 years working in Canadian National Parks, originally as a Park Warden and now a biologist.