On a Canadian Wildlife Service assignment in Jasper National Park, he became the first human to study wild wolves from within a wolf pack using habituation, a method of gaining insights into the biology of wolves portrayed in fiction by Farley Mowat's popular book and film, Never Cry Wolf.
[1] Carbyn has conducted research on the ecology of various species of canids in Poland, Portugal, and throughout North America, and was the chairman of the successful Canadian Swift Fox Reintroduction program Recovery Team from 1989 to 1993.
[4] In 2013, Carbyn received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for services to wildlife conservation in Canada.
His early research focused on avian population studies, and while on educational leave from government service, he completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of Toronto on wolf-ungulate systems in Jasper National Park.
Lu Carbyn was born in Namibia (southern Africa) to parents of German heritage living on a cattle ranch.