A five-year wolf cull is currently taking place in British Columbia, with approximately 180 wolves being shot from helicopters this year alone. The BC government is arguing that this is a necessary evil needed to enable the recovery of the woodland caribou population. I see it as a temporary and gruesome solution that won’t solve their problems in the long run.
There is certainly a problem with increased wolf populations in BC. As Chief Roland Wilson of the West Moberly First Nation told CBC News, “A typical pack would run between six to 10 wolves. We’ve had reports of 35 [wolves] up there. And they have to eat.” However, we must remember that the reason the populations grew to be so large in the first place is our fault.
With increased rates of deforestation resulting in boreal forest habitat fragmentation there has been an increase in wide open spaces. These swathes of land left by clearcutting have subsequently enabled a boom in moose and deer populations. Their thriving has enabled an increase in wolf populations that, in turn, target the threatened caribou. Wolves are extremely intelligent animals, and have learned to use the roads and pipelines to access caribou populations in the woods.
The same deforestation and habitat degradation that enabled the increase in wolf populations has been devastating for the caribou. The woodland caribou, Rangifer tarandus, do not migrate long distances with the changing seasons, and instead remain in the forest all year round.
The government’s priority of fiscal gains over conservation efforts is clear.
To thrive they require wide areas of undisturbed boreal forest; in particular, the forest needs to have had time to accumulate the amount of ground lichen to sustain the populations through winter months and diverse varieties of flora in the summer. Furthermore, there must be an appropriate number of predators that won’t threaten their overall population sizes.
A 12-year study led by Dave Hervieux, a biologist at the Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development ministry, found that the wolf control program stabilized the caribou populations but didn’t lead to a significant increase. He concluded that without predator management the caribou populations would be finished, but that it needs to be done with effective habitat management and long-term planning.
The government does plan on decreasing the impact on caribou habitat. “All economic activity will be done with a mind to caribou,” assistant deputy minister Tom Ethier told CBC News. “We’re focused on having a light footprint in that area.”
However, it has been argued by some that these efforts will do little to counter the habitat loss that has already taken place, for it would take decades of dedicated conservation efforts.
Frankly, I am not very optimistic about that taking place. It is not as if the repercussions of habitat fragmentation and degradation were a complete surprise. It was understood that there would be negative consequences for the caribou, and yet the government went ahead with its invasive projects anyway. The ultimate priority of fiscal gains over conservation efforts is clear, and that trend hasn’t shown any promise of stopping.
Dan MacNulty, a wolf biologist at Utah State University in Logan, accurately laid out this situation’s ethical quandary to Nature: “What is better, killing off these wolves or watching these caribou blink out because of our appetite for cheap oil and gas?”
We shouldn’t lie to ourselves and argue that the wolves are the menace that is going to wipe out the caribou population; it has been us all along. Humans are not the caribou’s saviors. Humans are their foe.
