Wolf rips open tent and tries to drag US camper Matthew Rispoli away in rare attack at Canada’s Banff National Park
- Parks Canada says animal repeatedly bit victim before neighbouring camper kicked it and drove it away
- Rispoli was hospitalised with arm and hand injuries
A wolf attacked campers at Banff National Park and tried to drag an American tourist away before being driven off, the agency overseeing Canada’s national parks says.
Parks Canada said this week that the very rare attack by an older wolf in poor health occurred August 9 at the Ramparts Creek campground north of Lake Louise in Alberta.
Jon Stuart-Smith, a wildlife specialist for the agency, said the New Jersey man was camping with his wife and two children and heard noises around midnight. Thinking it could be a bear, the man tried to scare the wolf off by making noise, but the animal bit him through the tent.
Stuart-Smith said the wolf repeatedly bit the man, ripped the tent open and started to pull him out. A neighbouring camper heard the noise and ran over and kicked the wolf, which then fled, he said.
The man suffered hand and arm injuries and was hospitalised.