To the Editor,
Recently our provincial government implemented a draft management plan on controlling the populations of the grey wolf that is less than comforting.
Two main goals of the plan include minimizing the threat to private property (such as the killing of livestock) and to minimize the wolf packs supposedly preventing the endangered species of woodland caribou from recovery.
The government plans to control wolf populations by hunting from helicopters and poisoning and trapping them more than ever before, in an attempt to ‘control’ their population.
There will be no protected areas for packs to live out normal lives, or designated areas for scientific research. The killing plan is brutal, with a no bag limit on wolves, or any sex and age restrictions for pups and their mothers.
And the ends of the plan don’t meet the means.
The greatest threat to caribou populations isn’t wolves. Studies have shown that humans threaten the caribou’s recovery the most through habitat destruction.
It has also been proven removing large predators from ecosystems contributes to habitat loss and deforestation, which would go in the opposite direction needed for caribou recovery.
The affect wolves have on livestock is also minor, with only 0.52 percent of livestock on crown land killed by wolves in a 2010 report (78 out of 150,000).
The more opposition there is to this ill fated plan, the better.
I urge British Columbians to speak out to their MPs, or go to pacificwild.org for information.
Caitlin Jakobsen
via e-mail