Caribou

[Trukker]

Did anyone see this latest article\
A government plan to shoot up to 184 wolves from a helicopter to reduce their population and save caribou herds in western Canada drew sharp criticism from conservation groups Friday.
British Columbia said the killings are needed to save herds in the South Selkirk Mountains and South Peace regions of the province from possible extinction due to wolf predation.
The population of the South Selkirk herd, which moves freely between British Columbia and the US states of Washington and Idaho, has declined from 46 caribou in 2009 to 16 last year.
"Evidence points to wolves being the leading cause of mortality," said a government bulletin.
"Ministry staff will aim to remove up to 24 wolves by shooting them from a helicopter before (the) snow melt," it added.
British Columbia along with US state officials, aboriginal groups, the US Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have been monitoring the herd.
Four herds in the South Peace region have also suffered steep population declines due in part to wolf predation, it said.
A cull of 120-160 wolves in that region is planned.
Ian McAllister of conservation group Pacific Wild said the killings ignore the root cause of the problem facing caribou, which he said is habitat encroachment by human activities.
"Instead of protecting habitat and restricting snowmobilers and stopping road construction, oil and gas seismic testing that have caused the decline of caribou, the government allowed the number of industries to continue in prime habitat," he told public broadcaster CBC.
The wolves, he said, "are paying the ultimate price."
The government acknowledged that "habitat recovery continues to be an important part of caribou recovery," but added it "cannot address the critical needs of these herds in the short term."
It also noted that traditional hunting and trapping of wolves has failed to reduce their numbers "and may even split up packs and increase predation rates on caribou

 

[ZRrrr]

Don't get me started...............

 

[tex78]

Ya someone on f.b posted the help the wolf's in the salmon arm buy sell...

I told them first that it's the wrong place to post it, 2nd that the wolf's numbers are insane high and the amount of tracks outside of town that 98% of people don't see is huge


Also that look at how many deer are not around anymore.... Wolf's have knocked there numbers down too


Even coyote's in my area compared to last year... U don't hear many... But see lots of wolf's tracks all over

 

[Bnorth]

184 is a drop in the bucket but I suppose it's a start.

 

[Joholio]

184 is a drop in the bucket but I suppose it's a start.

Like thank recommend

 

[tex78]

Like thank recommend

X2.....

 

[Lund]

I don't agree with the governments idea of killing the wolf.
Its been done in the past and has never worked, it's typical of the BC uneducated decisions and quick fixes on things they know nothing about or choose to know about. It's a sad day.

 

[RevyG]

Kill one to save another.......here we go. You know they also want to shut down another huge area, ok with that as well Guys. Long live the, oh wait WE screwed the caribou over 100+ years now killing wolves is going to bring the 20ish back to historic numbers? The amount of time and money put into saving these animals could run a small country, we just really have a hard time saying we screwed up. Gee relocating worked, oh right no it didn't they all died as well. Time to put energy into things we can fix. But killing wolves will do nothing, simple.

 

[ZRrrr]

There is enough recent research from AB wolf culsl and now some BC research data to show that a wolf cull is very, very ineffective. In splintered wolf packs or those stressed by loss of members the females actually produce MORE pups than the norm.

A very short sighted plan. Must be an election year coming up in BC.

Loss of habitat is THE biggest issue. Culling wolves will have little effect long term and may actually exacerbate the situation long term. They would have to cull wolves for many years to see any long term recovery and that will cost milllions and millions and millions of taxpayer dollars.

Bottom line is they can't reclaim the land fast enough to save the Caribou and there is no real government impetus to demand that foresry, oil and gas reclaim the land faster and pay for it. Easier for our wonderful gov's to give the illusion of an effective recovery strategy than to bite the lobbyists hand that feeds.

Me thinks the Caribou and the wolf are BOTH fawked. You can bet your ass the recreational users are about to get it very hard as well.

I would like to see research on vehicle/ungulate highway accidents after a few years of culling. Laws of physics dictate that for every action there is a reaction.



The British Columbia government has announced plans to immediately begin killing up to 184 wolves to protect mountain caribou in two regions of the province.The plan is to kill between 120 and 160 wolves in the South Peace in northern B.C., and 24 wolves in the South Selkirk in southeastern B.C.
In both cases, the plan is for ministry staff in helicopters to shoot the wolves before the snow melts.
The plan has angered some conservationists who argued that the cull won't work because the real problem for caribou is the loss of their habitat.
However, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, the cull is needed because previous methods used to reduce the number of wolves haven't worked.


"Hunting and trapping of wolves have not effectively reduced populations and may even split up packs and increase predation rates on caribou," the written statement said.
"Habitat recovery continues to be an important part of caribou recovery, but cannot address the critical needs of these herds in the short term," it added.
The South Selkirk mountain caribou herd was down to 18 animals in March 2014 from 46 in 2009. Wolves have killed two of the remaining caribou in the past 10 months, the government announcement said.


In four herds in the South Peace, totalling as few as 163 caribou, at least 37 per cent of deaths of caribou are caused by wolves, according to the announcement.
The government's release said the plans had been peer-reviewed, though ministry spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for copies of the review documents.

Conservationists oppose cull
But critics said they disagreed with the science used to justify the cull.
Sadie Parr, the director of Wolf Awareness Inc. in Golden, said, "Part of what I want to point out is how scientifically unsound this is... killing wolves to increase ungulate populations has not worked in history in the long term."


Killing wolves to protect caribou will commit the government to 60 years or more of continued culls, since it will take that long for caribou herds to recover and new wolves will move in from other areas to fill the gap left by ones the government kills, she said, noting as well the expense of flying helicopters for the program.
The cull announcement follows the completion last year of a Grey Wolf Management Plan that divided the province into two zones. In most areas, wolf populations were to be managed through hunting and trapping regulations such as season lengths and bag limits.


In areas where growing wolf numbers threaten livestock or wildlife, the government would help stakeholders, ranchers and First Nations manage the problem, the government said at the time, adding, "In these areas, detailed implementation plans would be developed before any actions are undertaken."
Thursday's release from the government said the wolf management plan "allows for measures such as targeted aerial wolf removal in support of caribou protection for circumstances exactly like those occurring in the South Peace and South Selkirk herds."


Wolves are plentiful, it added, noting there are around 8,500 wolves in the province. "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."


Chris Darimont, the Hakai-Raincoast professor in geography at the University of Victoria, and the co-author of two books on coastal wolves, said, "This is a last ditch, Hail Mary effort to save caribou that are on their way out not because of wolves, but because of development, and aggressive development, by humans in their habitat for a few decades now."
Forestry and oil and gas activity change the landscape in ways that favour wolves, Darimont said, including opening areas to roads and recreation. The threat to caribou has been known for at least a decade, he said, but there's been no slowdown in development.


Culling wolves likely won't save the threatened caribou and it gives industry and the government an excuse not to move ahead with the habitat protection that's needed, he said. "Their way of dealing with it will likely not work, or certainly not work in every case," he said, citing research from wolf culls in Alberta.
"These landscapes are not going to favour caribou again for a very long time," said Darimont. "The damage that's been done is greater than the ability of caribou to recover, even with aggressive intervention."

 

[drew562]

Did they not prove the woodland caribou throughout North America are all from one big herd. One DNA. One species. As the ice age ended 400,000 years ago and the animals off all sorts followed the retreating ice. A few hundred silly caribou went a little west and got stuck in the mountains. As cool as it is to see them there we can't save them. That's clear from all the hard work already invested in there preservation. In the arctic a caribou is a hunted and eaten for dinner everyday. In bc they spend 100's of million dollars to protect a species that's not in trouble. Wtf

 

[Snowdin]

A guy told me couple months ago there is a bounty on wolves in the Swan Hills area. $300.00 per tail brought in. I thought he was bs'ing but maybe not.

 

[frock]

Maybe all you folks who think the cull is wrong should come over to the South Peace area and see just how many wolves there are here. My neighbour had to bring his cows in closer to his farmhouse because the wolves were decimating his herd. My other neighbour has lost 3 dogs to wolves, they came right into his yard and took them. A good friend of mine flies by chopper to check some of his wells in the Sukunka Valley and he told me there is a pack in there with at least 50 wolves in it. What do you think it takes to feed them on a weekly basis and a pack that size will eat whatever the hell it decides to???

I'm no biologist, but I've seen first hand what a wolf cull does for the survival rate of moose/elk/deer, it works. I've hunted in areas previous to the culls where there was virtually no game and a few years after went back in to hunt and there was sign everywhere, coincidence maybe.

I don't believe in killing what you can't eat so this goes against that, but I don't see any other way to look after this problem and still allow some development to happen.

 

[Korey]

Maybe all you folks who think the cull is wrong should come over to the South Peace area and see just how many wolves there are here. My neighbour had to bring his cows in closer to his farmhouse because the wolves were decimating his herd. My other neighbour has lost 3 dogs to wolves, they came right into his yard and took them. A good friend of mine flies by chopper to check some of his wells in the Sukunka Valley and he told me there is a pack in there with at least 50 wolves in it. What do you think it takes to feed them on a weekly basis and a pack that size will eat whatever the hell it decides to???

I'm no biologist, but I've seen first hand what a wolf cull does for the survival rate of moose/elk/deer, it works. I've hunted in areas previous to the culls where there was virtually no game and a few years after went back in to hunt and there was sign everywhere, coincidence maybe.

I don't believe in killing what you can't eat so this goes against that, but I don't see any other way to look after this problem and still allow some development to happen.

Well maybe one way to look at it is mother nature taking its course it's just like everything in nature always cycles. Not arguing your points and not talking from experience just my two cents can't justify useless killing that said I do understand having to protect your farm ect

 

[frock]

I would normally agree with you Korey, Mother Nature usually does what it takes to make things right. Unfortunately I don't think she has the tools to deal with our relentless encroachment. Maybe she will eventually figure out a way to slow us down or stop us, hopefully before a total collapse.

 

[moyiesledhead]

Mother nature will heal the planet when we're gone. The way we're killing each other off it may be sooner than we think. Mountain Caribou won't survive though.

 

[RevyG]

Maybe all you folks who think the cull is wrong should come over to the South Peace area and see just how many wolves there are here. My neighbour had to bring his cows in closer to his farmhouse because the wolves were decimating his herd. My other neighbour has lost 3 dogs to wolves, they came right into his yard and took them. A good friend of mine flies by chopper to check some of his wells in the Sukunka Valley and he told me there is a pack in there with at least 50 wolves in it. What do you think it takes to feed them on a weekly basis and a pack that size will eat whatever the hell it decides to???

I'm no biologist, but I've seen first hand what a wolf cull does for the survival rate of moose/elk/deer, it works. I've hunted in areas previous to the culls where there was virtually no game and a few years after went back in to hunt and there was sign everywhere, coincidence maybe.

I don't believe in killing what you can't eat so this goes against that, but I don't see any other way to look after this problem and still allow some development to happen.

So you kill SOME not all the wolves, the prey survival rate goes up then what do you think happens, the wolves come back? F'n groundhog day. When will we learn? They did a big moose kill up by Mica a few years ago thinking it would reduce the wolves, oops now just low moose numbers, unless you want to shut the backcountry to ALL user groups, industry included for years, kill all Wolves, cougar, and wolverine and close the highway don't forget how many get killed that way, then maybe in 20 years we would have some caribou back.
we will never learn.

 

[frock]

So you kill SOME not all the wolves, the prey survival rate goes up then what do you think happens, the wolves come back? F'n groundhog day. When will we learn? They did a big moose kill up by Mica a few years ago thinking it would reduce the wolves, oops now just low moose numbers, unless you want to shut the backcountry to ALL user groups, industry included for years, kill all Wolves, cougar, and wolverine and close the highway don't forget how many get killed that way, then maybe in 20 years we would have some caribou back.
we will never learn.

We will learn when we are all willing to stop using fossil fuels and anything made of wood. Those are the 2 main industries up here that have led to humans pushing further and further into any remaining wild country.

 

[ferniesnow]

We will learn when we are all willing to stop using fossil fuels and anything made of wood. Those are the 2 main industries up here that have led to humans pushing further and further into any remaining wild country.

Really? I know for a fact the small pockets of woodland caribou will be gone before that happens. There won't be a slow down of fossil fuels and wood usage in my lifetime. They are even making money out of fossil fuels now! The green movement talks the walk but until everyone walks the walk and cuts down on fossil fuels, there will be more changes than just caribou and wolves.

 

[sirkdev]

Really? I know for a fact the small pockets of woodland caribou will be gone before that happens. There won't be a slow down of fossil fuels and wood usage in my lifetime. They are even making money out of fossil fuels now! The green movement talks the walk but until everyone walks the walk and cuts down on fossil fuels, there will be more changes than just caribou and wolves.

I work in the bush, caribou will not survive they may be the stupidest animal god created.... I agree with you Fernie on the reduced consumption/production of fossil fuels but it seems like we are going the wrong way we seem to be worrying about what comes out of the tail pipe more than reducing the actual consumption? Seems ideal but working in the field it is staggering to see how much extra fuel gets burned in this vicious cycle.

 

[Joholio]

Wolf litters average 5 pups. Cougar averages 3-4. Ungulates typically have one offspring sometimes twins. Anyone see where I'm going with this?

Just so everyone knows, theres plenty of wolves to go around.