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Wolves treat trail camera like ‘a fun new toy’ in Alaska park. Check out the photos

A pack of wolves ruined a trail camera in the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, park officials said on Dec. 2, 2022.
A pack of wolves ruined a trail camera in the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, park officials said on Dec. 2, 2022. Denali National Park and Preserve

No, the trail camera in an Alaska national park wasn’t a toy for the wolves, but they treated it as one.

A curious pack of wolves in the Denali National Park was videoed toying with the camera before destroying it, park officials said in a Friday, Dec. 2, Facebook post.

One photo shows a close up of the animal’s face. Another shows a wolf with what appears to be wiring in its mouth.

“Is this a pack of wolves taking a stand against surveillance? Or just some wolf pups playing with a fun new toy they found in the woods?” park officials asked in the post.

Park officials said Adolph Murie began researching wolves in Denali in 1939, according to the national park.

Researchers started collaring wolves from every pack to monitor their populations, movements and activities.

In the fall of 2021, biologists counted 121 wolves in the Denali park area. That number was 95 the prior year.

Denali is more than 200 miles north of Anchorage.

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This story was originally published December 2, 2022 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Wolves treat trail camera like ‘a fun new toy’ in Alaska park. Check out the photos."

Helena Wegner
McClatchy DC
Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.
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