Wild Canada – The Wild West

The documentary is available via the following hyperlink:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7xftyk

Task 1: Organize the listed animals in a food chain (from prey to predator).

rainforest wolf salmon capelin black bear scavengers (eagle) “krills”

Task 2: Use the internet and find legends revolving around salmon.

http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/water1/2valcult.html

“Heiltsuk believed that after death, the "Salmon People's" spirits returned home to be reborn
in human form.”

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Task 3: Questions after watching Wild Canada – The Wild West

1. What are the two barriers encompassing the western part of Canada?

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2. What are some of the animal species that jeopardize the migration of salmon?
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3. In which season do salmon make their great migration? __________

4. Which parts of the salmon are consumed by wolves? What is the reason?
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5. Explain the wolves’ strategy for obtaining the salmon heads and skins.

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6. According to the documentary, approximately how many species are there that feed on
salmon? ___________

7. Salmon has an amazing sense of ________.

8. What happens with the salmon leftovers in the forest?

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9. What substance from the fish tissues makes the plants grow? _______________________

10. __________ can pick up double their own body weight.

11. How can one differentiate between male and female Bighorn sheep?
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Task 4: Reflect on George Vancouver’s stance on rainforests. Do you agree with his
oinion?

“Our residents here was truly forlorn. An awful silence pervaded the gloomy forest.”

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Task 5: Explain the Heiltsuk’s involvement in the salmon’s spawning.

“The Heiltsuk, who call themselves the Salmon People, know the salmon's spawning behavior
very well and had remarkable ways of helping them.”

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Task 6: Guessing the home environments

Rainforests Mountains

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Lynx: ______________

Wolves: ______________

White-spirit bear: ______________

Golden eagle: ______________

Bighorn sheep: ______________

Black bear: ______________

Task 7: Terminology

Upstream Current Scavenger Lynx Fertilize Migration

Tide Nocturnal Nourish

1. The river can get strong enough which prevent them from swimming against the
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2. Wolves are mostly _________. It is rare to see them in the open during broad daylight.
3. Their journey has great importance and defines the whole Western biorhythm. They
__________ (feed) the wildlife alongside the river and ocean coasts.
4. They leave the bodies stranded to allow _____________ (birds and animals that feed
on dead animals) to consume the flesh for them and leave the skin (rich in fat) behind.
5. ______ are wild animals belonging to the cat family.
6. As the salmon swim _________ (against the river’s current), the river is getting
stronger and stronger, sometimes even steeper.
7. Thousands of Salmon participate in their great ________ from the ocean inland.
8. The male salmon __________ the eggs in order to reproduce themselves.
9. ______ is the sea's rise and fall that happens twice daily.

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 Key

Task 1

krill, capelin ˂ salmon ˂ black bear, rainforest wolf, scavengers

Task 2

Learners’ answer

Task 3

1. Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains

2. E.g.: killer whales, rainforest wolves, eagles, black bears
3. Summer
4. Only the head and skin are consumed by wolves. The reason is that they want to avoid
parasites and consequently contamination; therefore, they do not ingest the flesh.
5. They catch the fish and leave the body stranded in the coastal areas to enable
scavengers to eat the flesh. When they finished, the high-fat skin and head remains.
6. 200
7. Smell
8. When there is a lot of available fish, bears eat only a quarter of their bodies and leave
them in the forest. As the corpse rot away, they nourish flora as well.
9. Nitrogen
10. Golden eagle
11. Males, called rams, have large horns that curl around their faces by eight years of age.
Females, called ewes, have smaller horns that curve slightly to a sharp point within the
first four years of life.

Task 4

The learners’ own answer.

Task 5

When the salmon eggs are fertilized, the Heiltsuk enter the water and collect the eggs in
wooden boxes. They transport them to a different body of water. That way, they can boost the
salmon population and nourish wider areas.

Task 6

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Mountains

Rainforests

Rainforests

Mountains

Mountains

Rainforests

Task 7

1. Current
2. Nocturnal
3. Nourish
4. Scavengers
5. Lynx
6. Upstream
7. Migration
8. Fertilize
9. Tide