Wolf Conservation Program

Raincoast’s Wolf Conservation Program is built on peer-reviewed science, public education, and wildlife management reform.

Photo by Michelle Valberg.

Raincoast’s wolf initiatives are working towards shifting the provincial management of gray wolves away from a poorly-informed and exploitation-based model to one that respects the welfare of wolves and their important role in functioning ecosystems. Our ultimate goal is to end the killing of wolves in British Columbia for the purposes of predator control, trophy, and perceived competition for shared prey. 

Moving towards coexistence

The level of human-caused wolf mortality in BC can only be described as staggering. In addition to the hundreds of wolves dying at the hands of lethal control programs (government sanctioned wolf culls), the BC government estimates that some 1,200 wolves are killed annually from recreational hunting and trapping, all sanctioned and encouraged by the province. To ensure that wolves continue their wild ways amidst an uncertain future, coexistence must replace killing wolves.

A darkly coloured wolf with black highlights walks across the sand in the intertidal zone.
Photo by Colleen Gara.

Science-based approach

Our policy recommendations and advocacy on behalf of wolves are grounded in rigorous, peer-reviewed research and conservation ethics. With our community partners, we continue to gain scientific understanding about wolves across BC. This includes work on coastal wolves – a subspecies that has been found to be genetically distinct from their inland cousins, unique to the Pacific coast. Collaborative efforts among Raincoast scientists, Indigenous Nations, organizations, and several universities are creating contemporary knowledge about this globally unique wolf-deer-salmon system.

Questions we are asking

At Raincoast, we aim to apply and advance research methods that are minimally invasive to wildlife. Accordingly, much of our wolf research hinges on obtaining information from camera traps, acoustic loggers, and samples such as hair and scats, which we collect without capturing or handling wildlife. Through our research along the central and south coasts of BC, we hope to gain a better understanding of wolves and other apex predators in anthropogenically-disturbed populations, and their interactions with prey species in salmon-bearing watersheds. Along the south coast, we are conducting initial surveillance in tributaries of the Fraser River and working collaboratively to develop this research with the local First Nation.

  • How do wolves interact with their environment during disturbance?
  • How does seasonal salmon abundance influence the distribution and behaviour of wolves in wolf-ungulate-salmon systems?
  • How do apex predators, like wolves, contribute to carbon cycling in this unique system? 
  • What are the economic and ecological benefits of wolf presence in anthropogenic landscapes?
Hand programming a wildlife cam.
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Landscape heterogeneity and marine subsidy generate extensive niche variation in a terrestrial carnivore

Darimont, C.T., P.C. Paquet, and T.E. Reimchen. 2009. Landscape heterogeneity and marine subsidy generate extensive niche variation in a terrestrial carnivore. Journal of Animal Ecology 79: 126-133 Diversity in wolves pdf
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Ecological factors drive genetic differentiation in British Columbia gray wolves

Muñoz-Fuentes, V., C.T. Darimont, R.K. Wayne, P.C. Paquet, and J.A. Leonard. 2009. Ecological factors drive genetic differentiation in British Columbia gray wolves. Journal of Biogeography. Munoz et al 2009.pdf
The genetic legacy of extirpation and recolonization in Vancouver Island Wolves.

The genetic legacy of extirpation and re-colonization in Vancouver Island wolves

Muñoz-Fuentes, V., Darimont, C.T., Paquet, P.C. et al. The genetic legacy of extirpation and re-colonization in Vancouver Island wolves. Conserv Genet 11, 547–556 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-9974-1 Conservation Genetics 2009 pdf
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Seafood-loving wolves may need protection

Dustin Walker Nanaimo Daily News March 21, 2009 Coastal B.C.’s fish-munching, island-hopping wolves will need to be better managed if the species is to thrive for future generations, says an expert on the unique animals.
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Lone wolf: Canada’s newest marine mammal

Globe and Mail Chris Darimont, Chris Genovali and Paul Paquet March 13, 2009 Where does biodiversity come from and how can we preserve it? These are fundamental questions the answers to which conservation scientists now seek at a frenetic pace.
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Unique coastal wolves merit protection, study concludes

Species has evolved to take advantage of marine environment March 11, 2009 Judith Lavoie, Canwest News Service Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, Edmonton Journal, Times Colonist They have red-tinted hair instead of grey, eat fish along with meat and love to island-hop.
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Salmon eating wolves

Frankly, deer, I don’t give a damn. Dr. Chris Darimont talks with CBC’s “As it happens “
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eBay urged to halt guided trophy hunt auctions

Kelly Burgess Los Angeles Times blog February 13, 2009 Some North American wildlife advocacy groups are urging eBay to ban the posting of certain guided trophy hunts currently available on the online auction site.