Surprise wild turkey spotted in Alberta's Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

A wild turkey has been spotted in Alberta's Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, southwest of Calgary, and it appears to be a first.

Nikki Skaug spotted it on the side of the road last Thursday.

Two days later, the turkey turned up at her Interlakes Campground campsite.

"He just kind of strolls in around the edge of my campsite, and I’m talking away to him," said Skaug.

"And he just came over and got really close, like right beside my chair. I could have reached out and touched him."

It turns out the wild turkey is female, and has been sighted at the Boulton Creek Campground store and other nearby campgrounds.

Wild turkeys are prone to wandering in the summer, especially hens looking for places to nest, but they normally stick to the foothills in the southwest.

"That far up Kananaskis valley … She’s wandered a long ways from her typical home," said Mike Jokinen from the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA).

Jokinen says while turkeys do fly, that’s not how they travel.

Instead, they cover a lot of ground just by walking.

"If I had to guess, I would say she came from one of the resident populations near Longview or Turner Valley. It’s about a 50 kilometre straight-line distance. She maybe did wander off to go nest and somehow found her way to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park."

Alberta Parks said in statement to CTV News it’s aware of recent wild turkey sightings in Kananaskis, and that parks staff are monitoring the situation. 

Efforts to increase wild turkey numbers

A 10-year-plan is currently underway by the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) to build a sustainable wild turkey population in Alberta.

In its latest report from 2022-23, the ACA estimated there were 790 wild turkeys across the province after first being introduced in 1962. 

That same report shows a high demand for hunting the wild birds, with 5,585 people applying for one of 200 tags available.

To help increase the turkey population in Alberta, the ACA is turning to British Columbia.

For at least six years, residents from communities in the Columbia Valley, including Invermere and Radium Hot Springs, have been dealing with wild turkeys invading their towns.

"Over the years, the fruit trees in these communities, and people feeding them, have attracted turkeys into these small communities and over time they have become a problem," said Jokinen.

Alberta Parks and ACA say in 2023, 177 wild turkeys were translocated to Alberta from BC.

So far in 2024, 183 wild turkeys have made the same journey.

Jokinen points out that each bird is disease tested before leaving BC. 

Once they are released in Alberta, the females get a blue band put on their left leg and males are outfitted with a green band on their right leg. That allows for better tracking and management of the birds.

"So we’re helping B.C. manage their problem turkey situation while establishing and enhancing, our turkey population in southwest Alberta," says Jokinen.

To prevent the turkeys from becoming problems in Alberta, Jokinen says they’re being translocated to big ranches, rather than small communities.

"We’re releasing them on ranches where they winter-feed their livestock.

"Turkeys in Alberta really do depend on a winter food source, and that’s key. And releasing on these ranches where they’re feeding their livestock in the winter gives the turkeys a food source."

As for the wild turkey in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, it does not have a leg band. Jokinen suspects she will likely return to her wintering grounds, pointing out a wild turkey wouldn’t survive the winter in Kananaskis.

A wild turkey was spotted in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. (Photo: Nikki Skaug)Alberta Parks says anyone who spots a wild turkey in the Kananaskis area is encouraged to report it to Kananaskis Emergency Services by calling 403-591-7755.

The ACA is also interested in tracking wild turkey sightings, especially hens with their young, and has an online survey you can fill out.