A wolf that approached a dog and two people near the Whitehorse landfill last Friday night has been destroyed.

Environment Yukon confirmed this morning that conservation officers shot the wolf last night at the city dump.

It had been living there for the last several weeks, and had become habituated to humans, the department said.

In last Friday’s confrontation, the wolf snarled at the man and woman before going in to grab the dog by its neck.

“Most wolves that grab dogs by the neck ... that’s usually the end of the dog,” conservation officer Dave Bakica said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

Fortunately, the Labrador was wearing a leather collar that mostly protected its skin from the wolf’s jaws.

The incident reportedly occurred at 10 p.m. Friday, on the trail along the electric fencing around the dump.

A man and woman were biking with his dog running alongside them when they saw the adult-sized, grey and tan wolf.

They rode away, but the wolf followed.

The man told his girlfriend to go ahead with the dog so they could get away, but the wolf ran past him and went for the Lab, Bakica told the Star.

Once it let go of the pup, the couple began yelling and screaming at the predator while waving their arms. The wolf backed off a little, but it was still about five metres from them.

“He said it was the one time he forgot his bear spray,” the CO said.

“This was the perfect occasion to use it.”

The couple rode away, and the wolf followed them in the bush for a while before running off.

Conservation officers later found wolf tracks in the area.

While the problematic animal has been destroyed, other wolves are still believed to be in the area.

A second one that’s been spotted is black.

Bakica advises people to take caution when in the area by travelling in groups and carrying bear spray.

Wolf attacks on humans are very rare, he noted, but can happen.

“I wouldn’t recommend walking a dog around the dump,” he added, given that the wolf evidently sees the pets as a food source.

It’s not uncommon to see wolves around the dump, along with bears, Bakica said.

In the winters, there are typically more wolves in that area, sometimes between six and eight, because other food sources are harder to come by.

He said he suspects the electric fencing is less effective in the cold, and the wolves are able to access garbage and scraps.

At this time of year, wolves are often seen on their own.

They don’t need to attack in a pack when easily accessible foods like rabbits, gophers and beavers are available.

But in the winters, when larger animals with hooves are their prime prey, they’ll team up.

– With a file from Aimee O’Connor.