Similar to the Ontario White Wolf, and often considered to be the same animal, the Waheela, or Saberwolf, is a large, wolf-like creature said to inhabit Alaska and the Northwest Territories. It is larger and more heavily built than normal wolves, with a wide head and proportionally larger feet, and with long, pure-white fur. The animal’s hind legs are said to be shorter than the front legs, and the tracks show widely spaced toes. Witnesses describe it as being about 3.5 feet to 4 feet at the shoulder. Waheelas are never seen in packs so they are presumably solitary. Native legends describe the Waheela as an evil spirit with supernatural powers and describe it as killing people and removing their heads. It has been theorized that the Waheela is an Amphicyonid (a prehistoric carnivore of the Miocene and Oligocene), a Dire Wolf (A large wolf of the Pleistocene), a prehistoric hyena, or a completely new species of canine.
The Waheela is native to the Nahanni or "Headless Valley" as it is known for ripping people's heads off. It is mostly in Native American legend but it was sighted by an American mechanic, Frank Graves, who described it as a "wolf on steroids," most likely because of its build/size.
In 2018, original eyewitness Graves identified the animal he saw as a Mackenzie timber wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis), a known grey wolf subspecies inhabiting Canada, in the documentary Interview With A Cryptid Hunter.
In Popular Media[]
- The Waheela appears in the animated cartoon, The Secret Saturdays.
- It also appears in the video game, The Secret Saturdays: Beast of the Fifth Sun.
- In reality television, the Waheela is hunted in Alaska Monsters.
- A Waheela named Istas is a character in the novel series InCryptid. In the books, Waheelas are therianthropes who can shift between a human form and a giant bear-dog form.