Taxpayers Fund Mass Killing of Wolves in British Columbia

[Curly]

6 wolves per 100 km sq seems to be the threshold for caribou populations....according to Canada researchers.

Seems like a lot of wolves.  That's about 6 wolves per 40 sq miles. 

[Bob33]

Fifty years ago there were as many caribou in Washington as moose. Now moose numbers exceed 1,000 and caribou are on the verge of extinction in Washington.

[Jonathan_S]

Fifty years ago there were as many caribou in Washington as moose. Now moose numbers exceed 1,000 and caribou are on the verge of extinction in Washington.

And nobody in charge cares.  NE elk are going in the same direction...

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Habitat Largely Irrelevant? I have to be kidding right? Well, Banff and Jasper National Parks in the central Canada contained some of the most spectacular wildlife habitat in North America but today it is largely a game-less country due to predation. Approximately 40 years ago, wolves re=colonized parks that already contained grizzlies, black bears and mountain lions. The addition of wolves to the system has just about eliminated the moose and reduced elk populations by 80% or more. It's important to remember that the wildlife in Banff and Jasper are not hunted. Wolves have also caused elk herds to abandon large portions of their pre-wolf ranges. The habitat is still their, but the elk are not. And unlike our Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, who contend that predators have little effect on game populations, Parks Canada fully acknowledges what has transpired!

Gee a quick trip the the Banff Park website shows me this....... http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/natcul/Animaux-Animals/mammifieres-mammals/wapiti.aspx  Here are a couple quotes.......

"Elk have always been part of the natural ecology of the park but probably in fewer numbers than we see today."

"Today, elk are the most numerous large animal with close to 350 found in the park; over 200 of them live in the lower Bow Valley close to the town of Banff."

" On average, 70 elk die from cars or trains each year."

70 out of 350 killed by vehicles? That's 20%   Just a guess, but I'd bet trains were responsible for the greatest portion of that. In Alaska, in the winter, trains take a horrible toll on moose, as when the snow gets deep and makes travel hard for animals, they naturally move on to the railroad right of ways to get around as those are kept clear for the trains. Then as the trains navigate down the tracks the moose are trapped by high snow banks and are literally slaughtered by the hundreds in bad winters. I could see the same thing happening in Banff.

Then this on another web page .....

"Banff Moose

Moose are on the decline in the park, due in part to a deadly liver fluke, the return of wolves after a long absence, and an unnaturally high number of deaths on the railways and highways. However, you still have a good chance of spotting a moose"

There's those pesky vehicle accidents again.

"Banff Deer

The park is home to both whitetail and mule deer, and both are common along the Vermilion Lakes Drive and the Bow Valley Parkway, particularly in the spring. "

"
Banff Bighorn

Sheep Bighorn sheep are abundant throughout the park, and are most commonly seen along the Bow Valley Parkway at Backswamp, on the Mount Norquay and Lake Minnewanka roads, and at the top of the gondola ride on Sulphur Mountain."

Doesn't sound like there is a shortage of animals in Banff because of wolves. Are cervids at an all time high? no. Are they at an all time low? no

[wolfbait]

Habitat Largely Irrelevant? I have to be kidding right? Well, Banff and Jasper National Parks in the central Canada contained some of the most spectacular wildlife habitat in North America but today it is largely a game-less country due to predation. Approximately 40 years ago, wolves re=colonized parks that already contained grizzlies, black bears and mountain lions. The addition of wolves to the system has just about eliminated the moose and reduced elk populations by 80% or more. It's important to remember that the wildlife in Banff and Jasper are not hunted. Wolves have also caused elk herds to abandon large portions of their pre-wolf ranges. The habitat is still their, but the elk are not. And unlike our Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, who contend that predators have little effect on game populations, Parks Canada fully acknowledges what has transpired!

Gee a quick trip the the Banff Park website shows me this....... http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/natcul/Animaux-Animals/mammifieres-mammals/wapiti.aspx  Here are a couple quotes.......

"Elk have always been part of the natural ecology of the park but probably in fewer numbers than we see today."

"Today, elk are the most numerous large animal with close to 350 found in the park; over 200 of them live in the lower Bow Valley close to the town of Banff."

" On average, 70 elk die from cars or trains each year."

70 out of 350 killed by vehicles? That's 20%   Just a guess, but I'd bet trains were responsible for the greatest portion of that. In Alaska, in the winter, trains take a horrible toll on moose, as when the snow gets deep and makes travel hard for animals, they naturally move on to the railroad right of ways to get around as those are kept clear for the trains. Then as the trains navigate down the tracks the moose are trapped by high snow banks and are literally slaughtered by the hundreds in bad winters. I could see the same thing happening in Banff.

Then this on another web page .....

"Banff Moose

Moose are on the decline in the park, due in part to a deadly liver fluke, the return of wolves after a long absence, and an unnaturally high number of deaths on the railways and highways. However, you still have a good chance of spotting a moose"

There's those pesky vehicle accidents again.

"Banff Deer

The park is home to both whitetail and mule deer, and both are common along the Vermilion Lakes Drive and the Bow Valley Parkway, particularly in the spring. "

"
Banff Bighorn

Sheep Bighorn sheep are abundant throughout the park, and are most commonly seen along the Bow Valley Parkway at Backswamp, on the Mount Norquay and Lake Minnewanka roads, and at the top of the gondola ride on Sulphur Mountain."

Doesn't sound like there is a shortage of animals in Banff because of wolves. Are cervids at an all time high? no. Are they at an all time low? no

"Today, elk are the most numerous large animal with close to 350 found in the park; over 200 of them live in the lower Bow Valley close to the town of Banff."

Sounds like other areas where wolves have impacted the game herds, elk etc. living in or near town for protection from wolves

So much for your "habitat" argument Sitka

[jasnt]

There's no changing his mind WB. He will blame everything on habitat.  Even places with some of the best habitat.  I remember reading an arrival on this park and town of banff.  I remember they had such a bad wolf problem that most of the elk just moved right in to town.  I'll try to find the link to it

[wolfbait]

Wolf Recovery in the Northern Rockies:
What Pro-Wolf Advocates Do Not Want You to Know

Prior to the build-up of wolves, eight hundred to a thousand elk were routinely counted from the air in the Bow Valley

Importance of habitat: Habitat is irrelevant. Everything biologists have told you about habitat being the overriding consideration is totally and absolutely wrong. Remember those two examples I showed earlier — Banff National Park and Yellowstone National Park. And they’re national parks. The habitat’s still there. Nobody’s driven any oil wells or gas wells there. No one’s ripped them up for tar sands or done anything else like that but, you know, the elk are no longer there because of predation.

Caribou: Wolves are now in the process of wiping out woodland and mountain caribou across the length and breadth of Canada. This is another example of predator-mediated competition. Historically, there were no moose in these systems. And the reason there were no moose — I wrote a paper on this — Biogeography of Moose in Western North America — is because the natives just wiped out the moose. But since the natives are no longer there doing the hunting the way they did, the moose population has increased. This has led to an increase in the number of wolves and whenever the wolves run across more vulnerable caribou they just nail it, and kill it.

This editorial appeared in one of Canada’s leading newspapers — I believe it’s the Edmonton Journal, by writer Dick Dekker — about how to save the woodland caribou and the mountain caribou in Canada. His idea is we need to create a new national park for caribou. He’s totally right. But his view is you need to high gate and fence it, electrify the fence, catch all the predators — throw them out. Then put the caribou back in. So it’s the only way the caribou are going to survive. And the importance about this is the author, Dr. Dick Dekker. Dr. Dick Dekker ran the Canadian Wolf Defenders for fifteen years. Dick Dekker and I are friends. He’s the only rational wolf advocate I’ve ever met. Now, we have different value systems. But we’re still friends because he’s not misleading, he’s telling that “the wolves did it.” And in Canada they’re trying to blame it on oil and gas and logging and tar sands and roads and everything else except wolves. You know, wolves did it. Again, habitat is irrelevant.

Read More @

http://prfamerica.org/speeches/16th/WolfRecovery.html

[nwwanderer]

Control often equals dispersion.  More for Washington?

[wolfbait]

Control often equals dispersion.  More for Washington?

So far there hasn't been any wolf control, and there probably never will be to the extent that it would do any good.


"Return of partial state wolf management: Wolf management was returned — partial wolf management — was returned to the states of Montana and Idaho under a rider — that was a congressional rider — which was attached to an appropriation bill which I’ll discuss in more detail in a minute. So Idaho and Montana held seasons last year on wolves. And according to news accounts of the wolves killed in Idaho — first, they never reached their quota. Despite a six-week hunting season or six-month hunting season. With deep snow on the ground, they never reached their quota. Turns out you cannot, which was known back in ’87 when the wolf recovery plan was first written, you cannot control wolf population by hunting or trapping. If you want to control it, you need to poison them and get in there with helicopters and use helicopter gunships on them. Neither of which are popular with certain groups, if you can imagine. So the hunt in Idaho they had, half the wolves that were killed were in places the state fish and game agency had no idea there were any wolves."

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Turns out you cannot, which was known back in ’87 when the wolf recovery plan was first written, you cannot control wolf population by hunting or trapping. If you want to control it, you need to poison them and get in there with helicopters and use helicopter gunships on them. Neither of which are popular with certain groups, if you can imagine. So the hunt in Idaho they had, half the wolves that were killed were in places the state fish and game agency had no idea there were any wolves."

Hunting and trapping helps. But the real secret is, most wolves die from accidental causes, malnutrition, or intraspecific competition ie killed by other wolves. In may ways, wolves are self limiting. They don't have an easy life.

[CementFinisher]

yet their populations are exploding everywhere. They don't balance out until they nock down prey species so far they starve and fall to disease and competition. So you think that this okay, acceptable?

[wolfbait]

Turns out you cannot, which was known back in ’87 when the wolf recovery plan was first written, you cannot control wolf population by hunting or trapping. If you want to control it, you need to poison them and get in there with helicopters and use helicopter gunships on them. Neither of which are popular with certain groups, if you can imagine. So the hunt in Idaho they had, half the wolves that were killed were in places the state fish and game agency had no idea there were any wolves."

Hunting and trapping helps. But the real secret is, most wolves die from accidental causes, malnutrition, or intraspecific competition ie killed by other wolves. In may ways, wolves are self limiting. They don't have an easy life.

Yellowstone is Dead

[timberfaller]

  Great Vid!!  Nailed it,  Government: it's all about padding ones pocket while in office, Stealing from accounts, LYING and NEVER NEVER about Real Science!!

Tickle the "emotions" of the city dwellers and YOU'VE got your $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[mfswallace]

Yellowstone doesn't have the habitat to support more than 5000 elk, everyone knows that 

Wait your telling me there were once 17000-25000 elk, well winter kill is the reason 70-90% of the population died   

So many ways to spin it except admitting wolves are the root cause, along with a small small percentage of other factors   

[CementFinisher]

Yellowstone doesn't have the habitat to support more than 5000 elk, everyone knows that 

Wait your telling me there were once 17000-25000 elk, well winter kill is the reason 70-90% of the population died   

So many ways to spin it except admitting wolves are the root cause, along with a small small percentage of other factors   

LOL your kidding right? if the habitat didn't support more than 5000 elk than how did the population continue to grow past 20000 over the years? I miss the yellowwstone that had elk, moose, and all animals everywhere you went in the greater yellow stone area, went back there for the 3rd time and it made me so sick to see so little life there now