A government planned wolf cull began in the South Selkirks on January 15 aiming to save the endangered Mountain Caribou. In a government press release it states that the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) “is taking immediate action to save caribou herds under threat from wolf predation in two separate and targeted actions": one in the South Selkirk Mountains and the other in the South Peace. The South Selkirk area of the cull is bounded roughly by Ymir, Salmo, Kootenay Lake and Creston.
The South Selkirk area of the wolf cull is high lighted yellow and is bounded roughly by Ymir, Salmo, Kootenay Lake and Creston.
According to the government the local herd is at high risk of local extinction with only 18 caribou left. Research indicates that the population has declined from 46 caribou in 2009 to 27 in 2012, and to 18 as of March 2014, with evidence pointing to wolves being the leading cause of mortality.
Ministry staff will aim to remove up to 24 wolves by shooting them from a helicopter before snow melt.
Tom Ethier, MFLNRO assistant deputy minister said that an experienced helicopter company with experienced sharp shooters began the wolf removal yesterday. “Wolves weren’t there for a period in the last 10 years, or they weren’t as prevalent,” he said, adding that there are more deer and moose in the area now, which is likely the attractant.
He said there are two to three wolf packs over the South Selkirk amounting to 24 wolves. “We have a good idea where they are located in their current home range.”
As to the question of how will they know if the wolves have been killed, Ethier said that they will not be leaving the wolf carcasses behind but taking them with them.
“We are offering the wolves to First Nations, (the Ktunaxa) but have not yet heard back.”
The Ktunaxa Nation issued a searate press release on Friday stating “We are worried that this approach to conservation is extremely hasty,” said Kathryn Teneese, Ktunaxa Nation Council Chair. “We are deeply concerned about the very low numbers of caribou in the south Selkirk, but we believe that management efforts should focus on increasing the population of caribou. Wolves are not the primary cause of the caribou population decline in the region and killing wolves at this scale will have to continue for many years to effectively reduce the risk of wolf predation. Killing one species of animal to benefit another species is contrary to Ktunaxa stewardship values.
“In order to preserve the caribou, we believe that a multi-faceted approach must be taken which includes restriction of access to and restoration of key caribou habitat, decreasing vehicle mortality and establishing breeding programs, including maternal penning,” continued Teneese. “This approach requires cooperation and commitment from all partners in Ktunaxa territory. We support monitoring of predation impacts, however, we strongly feel that these actions are a narrow and short term approach. Recovery planning and long term management of these caribou requires strong commitment to collaboration and adaptive co-management of the herd.”
The cost for the wolf removal is $150,000 per year just for the South Selkirk area. The species at risk act requires the government to take action and Ethier said the Mountain Caribou in this area will be extinct in two to three years “without immediate action”.
“BC has the vast majority of Mountain Caribou that’s native to the area,” said Ethier. “Idaho and Montana have a population as well but that’s as far south as the species travels.”
He said globally, Mountain Caribou are listed as an endangered species and its legal status federally means they are required by law to act.
There will be a follow up report of the performance to see how the caribou are responding.
The South Selkirk is a trans-boundary herd, and caribou move freely between BC, Washington and Idaho. Officials from those three areas, along with First Nations, the US Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have been working together on a research project and have collared six of the remaining 18 caribou to help investigate the cause of decline. Wolves have killed two of the remaining caribou (11 per cent of the herd) in the past 10 months.
West Kootenay Eco-Society executive director David Reid in Nelson said the caribou situation is “really challenging.”
“As much as we abhor the cull of any animal, the reality is the intrusion of people into their habitats means if we don’t do something, the very small and delicate caribou population will likely not survive.”
He went on to say with the increase in recreation to the high elevations of the alpine is leaving skidoo tracks, which has been a point of access making it easier for wolves.
“The high alpine is typically a refuge for the caribou which are designed to walk in high snow. Wolves can’t walk in deep snow but they’ve figured out how to walk in the snowmobile tracks. It’s part of the problem.”
“If nothing is done, it’s very likely the caribou will not survive. It’s a very difficult situation, heli-hunting.”
The government statement went on to say that hunting and trapping of wolves have not effectively reduced populations and may even split up packs and increase predation rates on caribou.
“Habitat recovery continues to be an important part of caribou recovery, but cannot address the critical needs of these herds in the short term.”
The government said the operational plans for both the Selkirks and South Peace have been independently peer-reviewed.
On April 17, 2014, the Provincial Grey Wolf Management Plan was finalized and publicly released.
“There are no plans to implement a general aerial wolf cull, and in fact, the two zone strategy noted in the Wolf Management Plan would not support a general cull.”
The government said that with the wolf population ranging between 5,000 and 11,600, they consider the wolf population to be “plentiful” and “the grey wolf is not a species of concern.
“The risk of removing the number of wolves recommended is very low, whereas the risk to pertinent caribou populations of doing nothing is very high.”
A Mountain Caribou recovery implementation program was endorsed by the provincial government in October 2007. This included strategies such as protecting 2.2 million hectares from logging and road building, transplanting caribou subpopulations, managing recreation to reduce human disturbance and to reduce predator densities where predation is preventing MC recovery.
For the South Selkirk herd, a significant portion of core caribou habitat has been closed to snowmobile use and almost all core caribou habitat has been protected from logging and road building. In July 2008, the Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased 550 square kilometres of land in the region specifically for conservation purposes.
To learn more about mountain caribou and recovery actions, visit:www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/speciesconservation/mc/