tansi ninôtemik,
Since 2005, Alberta has culled wolves—a predator of the caribou—in an effort to preserve the threatened woodland caribou population. The woodland caribou began decreasing in numbers at an alarming rate due to habitat destruction from infrastructure and resource development.[1] Researchers have confirmed that the culling amounts to the unethical killing of wildlife, which includes both the mass murder of wolves and the unintended killing of other animals.[2] Strychnine poisoning is one method of killing the wolves; this method has entailed lacing bait with strychnine. Besides hundreds of wolves dying painful deaths from this poisoning, other animals have also ingested the bait or the carcasses of the poisoned animals. Death from the poison typically occurs a few hours after the animal suffers from physical symptoms, which include seizures. The wolves and other animals are also facing helicopters used to gun down hundreds of wolves.[3] For the years leading up to 2012, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation recorded deaths of 12 black bears, 2 caribou, 163 cougars, 62 deer, 40 eagles, 173 fishers, 3 foxes, 3 grizzly bears, 1 goshawk, 70 lynx, 12 moose, 73 otter, 12 owls, 12 other small mammals, and 38 wolverine near the Little Smokey region alone, mainly from neck snares.[4] We will refrain from belabouring the cruelty of these tactics and the hypocrisy of killing caribou in the name of their conservation. Instead, we ask, on whose authority have we implemented this cull? Whose perspectives did the provincial government take into account when enacting such harsh measures? Surely not the perspectives of scientists, environmentalists, and Indigenous governments.
British Columbia also continues to carry out a wolf cull, slaughtering thousands of wolves and spending millions of tax dollars for this kill order.[5] When Pacific Wild Alliance, an environmental group, challenged the provincial government’s authority to carry out the wolf cull, the result was a long decision stating that the provincial government’s actions were legal.[6] To solve the problem that actually led to the caribou’s dwindling numbers, the West Moberly First Nations, Saulteau First Nations, provincial and federal governments collaborated to expand the Klinse-Za/Twin Sisters Park, protecting an additional 200,000 hectares of caribou habitat.[7]
While Indigenous perspectives, law, and worldview differ from Nation to Nation, research from the University of Victoria on Secwépemc law provides insight into Indigenous legal frameworks. One Secwépemc community member commented: “everything is dying… You look at the poor ants on the ground, the ground isn’t healthy… You look at the highway – why do we need it? Why do they destroy their mother? Why do they hurt her? They don’t understand.”[8] The provincial government, along with the existing environmental legislation, has not adequately considered the importance of habitat conservation and Indigenous perspectives on habitat; they destroy their mother, and then blame the wolves for the destruction, massacring them and any animals in their path. West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations demonstrate the effective solution to declining caribou, which is protecting the caribou and their habitat.
Ekosi.
The ReconciliACTION Team
Citations
[1] Wallis Snowdon, “Culling wolves alters the survivors and that could be ‘bad news’ for caribou, study finds: Researchers examined unintended consequences of lethal predator control tactics” (20 June 2024), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/wolf-cull-caribou-alberta-research-1.7239669.>
[2] Ryan K. Brook et al, “Maintaining Ethical Standards during Conservation Crises” (2015) 4:1 CWBM 72 at 73-74.
[3] Ibid at 74.
[4] Raincoast, “Alberta slaughters more than 1,000 wolves and hundreds of other animals” (10 January 2015), online: <https://www.raincoast.org/2015/01/alberta-wolf-slaughter/>.
[5] Pacific Wild, “Save BC Wolves”, online: <https://pacificwild.org/campaign/save-bc-wolves/>.
[6] Pacific Wild Alliance v British Columbia (Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development), 2022 BCSC 904 at para 157.
[7] Ainslie Cruickshank & Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood, “This new provincial park is the largest created in BC in a decade: The greatly expanded Klinse-Za / Twin Sisters Park will protect nearly 200,000 hectares of habitat for endangered caribou in B.C.’s northeast” (15 June 2024), online: <https://thenarwhal.ca/klinse-za-twin-sisters-provincial-park-bc/>.
[8] “Secwépemc: Lands and Resources Law Research Project” (2016) at 13, online (pdf): <https://ilru.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-11_SNTC_WebVersion.pdf>.
Learned a lot from this! Thank you for sharing!