While the provincial government has been taking immediate action to save caribou herds under threat from wolf predation, some experts and animal rights activists – including celebrities - have been speaking out against the wolf cull.
Although the wolf removal plan is not taking place close to the northwest, the province’s five-year ‘wolf removal’ program began on Jan. 15, 2015. The initial goal was to kill up to about 180 wolves threatening caribou herds this year in two different areas - the South Selkirk Mountains and the South Peace.
Bad weather and a low snowpack made it more difficult for the province to reach their initial goal, resulting in 84 wolves killed.
In the South Selkirks Mountains, 11 wolves were killed. The province was originally aiming to kill up to 24 wolves in the region by shooting them from a helicopter before snow melt. The wolves that remain are now being monitored to track their movement.
In the South Peace, 73 wolves were killed. The province was hoping to kill up to 120-160 wolves in the region, again by shooting them from a helicopter before snow melt.
According to the province, both the South Selkirks and South Peace herds have experienced significant losses to wolf predation.
The South Selkirk herd numbered 46 caribou in 2009, declining to 14 in the most recent survey conducted in March 2015. In the four caribou herds in the South Peace - Quintette, Moberly, Scott and Kennedy-Siding - populations are also decreasing.
Animal rights activists - including celebrities - are now speaking out against the province’s contentious approach to save the caribou herds.
American pop singer Miley Cyrus recently appealed to her millions of Instagram followers to sign a petition against B.C.’s wolf cull program. A week later, Pamela Anderson, a B.C.-born actress and animal rights activist, published an open letter to Premier Christy Clark also condemning the wolf cull.
“I won’t hold my tongue when I witness cruelty to animals, and I am deeply disturbed that my beloved province is allowing people to hunt and kill wolves,” read the letter. “We all want to restore the populations of endangered caribou, but gunning down wolves is not the answer.”
Anderson added that caribou herds are threatened because humans have “overdeveloped their habitat.”
“Rather than spending millions in taxpayer dollars to kill more animals, we need to invest in a plan to protect Canada’s forestland, which would also preserve the habitats of many other species.”
During a press conference on Sept. 18, 2015, Premier Christy Clark decided to respond to both celebrities by mocking their tendency to wear revealing outfits.
“There is another thing they have in common; both Pamela Anderson and Miley Cyrus, when they open up their closets they probably don’t find a lot of clothes,” said Clark.
According to the premier, the two celebrities need to educate themselves more on the issue.
“We’re trying to defend an endangered species and population of caribou that will go utterly extinct in British Columbia if we don’t do this,” said Clark. “I just hope that they really work a little to understand the issue.”
In a Canadian Press story recently published by the Huffington Post, conservation scientist Chris Darimont of the University of Victoria said successive governments have permitted forest, oil and gas and other resource companies to destroy and encroach on caribou habitat, and now that some herds are on the brink of extinction, wolves are made the scapegoat.
“It’s a desperate, last-minute Hail Mary attempt to avoid what really ought to be done and that is slow down and stop habitat destruction in caribou habitat,” Darimont said.
With support and project sponsorship received from Animal Alliance of Canada, the non-profit group Wolf Awareness has also been calling for the end of the wolf cull.
“Wolf social systems are extremely important,” said Sadie Parr, Executive Director of Wolf Awareness. “Wolves are social animals, more than just numbers.”
According to Parr, allowing wolves to express their natural social behaviour benefits the wider ecosystem.
“Sustainable numbers do not necessarily mean that a wolf population is thriving nor functioning naturally,” he said. “Their social bonds and kin-based families define what it means to be a wolf.”
According to the province, the operational plans for both the Selkirks and South Peace wolf cull have been independently peer-reviewed. In addition, the province says the wolf cull program is being employed in conjunction with ongoing habitat protection efforts.
“Habitat recovery continues to be an important part of caribou recovery, but cannot address the critical needs of these herds in the short term,” said the province in a press release.
With a wolf population estimated to range between 5300 and 11,600, the provincial government says wolf populations are plentiful, and that the grey wolf is not a species of concern in B.C.
“The risk of removing the number of wolves recommended is very low, whereas the risk to pertinent caribou populations of doing nothing is very high.”