B.C. wolf hunt raises hackles

Ranchers relieved but critics slam lifting of ban

By DENE MOORE The Canadian Press
Sun, Sep 4

100 MILE HOUSE, B.C. — Hunted to near-extinction in North America by the 1950s, the British Columbia wolf population has long since rebounded.

Now, this secretive nocturnal predator finds itself in the glare of the public eye once again after the provincial government lifted hunting restrictions on wolves in a region of the province.

Ranchers in the Cariboo region say they’re relieved that they’ll be able to hunt and trap wolves preying on their cattle, but critics say the open season is bad management based on poor science…Paul Paquet, a biologist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said the ministry doesn’t even have the information it would need to make that decision.

“What they’re basing it on is entirely anecdotal,” said Paquet, an adjunct professor in the faculty of environmental design at the University of Calgary.

To read the full article please visit the Chronicle Herald website.

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Coastal wolf with a salmon in its month.
Photo by Dene Rossouw.