Photo by Michelle Valberg.
Take action and help wolves
In British Columbia, Canada, wolves continue to be killed through a variety of means. These include legal recreational hunting and trapping. You can help us to end the killing of BC’s wolves.
Over 1,200 BC wolves killed annually for “recreational” purposes
In British Columbia the provincial government estimates that some 1,200 wolves are killed on an annual basis for recreational purposes. Raincoast large carnivore experts suspect that number is likely even higher given BC’s weak reporting requirements and inadequate conservation enforcement capability.
Recreational hunting is the largest source of mortality for wolves. In many regions in BC there is no limit to the number of wolves that can be killed daily. Hunting season is often open from September to June, and can include the period from April-May when wolves den and pups are born.
Take action now
Contact the Honourable George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, to let them know it is time to stop the hunting and trapping of BC’s wolves. We’ve provided this short email below for you to contact the relevant ministries. Adding your own sentiment is helpful and makes it more likely that the ministers listen.
You will get an email asking you to confirm your action email to the Honourable Minister George Heyman.
The killing of wolves is not ethical
The question is not whether killing wolves is “sustainable,” as wildlife managers are always trying to assert. The question is whether it is ecologically, ethically, or even economically defensible to kill large numbers of predators anywhere. The answer on all counts is no: there are no reasonable ecological reasons to kill wolves, there are no valid economic reasons, and clearly there are no tenable ethical reasons.
This is not science based management
The fundamentals of science-based management are not in place including clear objectives, use of evidence, transparency, and external review. The BC government does not have adequate population estimates for wolves and does not reveal how hunting quotas for wolves are determined.
Accountability and progress
Current wolf management policy in British Columbia, that permits activity that is so misaligned with commonly held societal values requires immediate attention by our elected representatives, who are accountable to the public.
Government sanctioned culls
We remain opposed to wolf culls here in BC and elsewhere.
Become a supporter
Research: Addressing poor statistical support for wolf control and maternal penning as conservation measures for endangered mountain caribou
Wolves in BC need our support
Ecology and Evolution: Functional response of wolves to human development across boreal North America
Poisoning Canada’s wolves with strychnine is unacceptable: journal comment
Maintaining Ethical Standards during Conservation Crises
