Takaya’s Legacy

The name Takaya may ring a bell if you follow wildlife news. He was the lone wolf who lived on the archipelago in the Salish Sea on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island. The word, Takaya, means wolf in the Indigenous language of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

Cheryl Alexander, a conservationist, photographer and educator, spent several years forming a distanced, but unique relationship with Takaya. Neither interfered with the other, but Cheryl was able to gain deep insight to Takaya’s life. Through this time, Cheryl witnessed a government set on killing Takaya; media villainzing him after an encounter with campers; his perseverance through dangers both human and environmental; and his tragic death at the hands of a hunter.

A 2019 documentary, Takaya: Lone Wolf, captured the hearts of many as his story, as told by Cheryl, beamed around the world. And in a 2020 book, Takaya, Cheryl has loving assembled her photos, thoughts and anecdotes of Takaya, along with her own journey of discovery about wolves and the region, in a beautiful story that shows who he was.

Cheryl joined Defender Radio recently to discuss Takaya, the process of writing and assembling her book and how a chance encounter with a wolf while kayaking changed her life.