Meet the wolves targeted in B.C.’s controversial kill
B.C.’s grey wolves are remarkable animals, able to cover a distance of more than 100 kilometres in a single day with their pack. They rule their territories — anywhere from 100 to 500 kilometres2 and marked with scat and urine — as one of Canada’s top predators. Now, some are apparently being targeted to be shot from helicopters as part of a controversial government effort to protect a dwindling caribou population.
Gunning down wolves from helicopters is less likely to control the wolf population of British Columbia than inflame public sentiment against the government that condones the officially-sanctioned wolf kills, according to Chris Darimont, the Hakai-Raincoast professor at the University of Victoria and science director of Raincoast Conservation.
British Columbia’s controversial practice of using snipers in helicopters to shoot grey wolves has drawn international attention. Pop star Miley Cyrus called the wolf cull a “war on wildlife,” and film actress Pamela Anderson wrote B.C. Premier Christy Clark that “gunning down wolves is not the answer.”
The 25 to 35-kilogram wolf hunts deer, elk, moose, caribou, bighorn sheep and bison and will supplement its diet with smaller mammals, including beaver, snowshoe hare and mice.
Grey wolves can scent prey from over 1.5 kilometres away and hunt as a pack, running down faster animals such as deer and throwing their weight against the prey to knock it off balance, according to the Alberta Wilderness Association.
Even so, life in the wild is hard and wolves often die young, and injuries sustained attempting to take down larger prey such as moose can result in fatalities. The wilderness association says a pack’s hunting success is low: on average, for every 12 moose pursued, only one is killed.
To contact and locate pack members, wolves howl with each member singing at a different pitch that is recognizable to the others. They can hear howls from up to 10 kilometres away.
Darimont is adamant that wolf culling is not an effective strategy to help caribou recovery.
“It’s a policy to influence politics. The province needs to be recognized for ‘doing something’. And despite the controversy about wolf control now, its easier politically than halting industry where endangered caribou roam.”
But that strategy is likely to backfire on the province, Darimont said, adding that predator control measures are often abandoned once they come to light to an increasingly upset public.
“The political calculus changes. It’s getting towards that point in B.C. Clearly, the environment is important to B.C. voters, and they no longer want to give industry and government a free pass.”
At one time, grey wolves ranged across North America, but now are restricted to wilder northern regions and national parks. They aren’t endangered, but habitat continues to shrink because of human activity.
Source: Meet the wolves targeted in B.C.’s controversial kill | National Observer