Defenders' Experts
Canada Wolves Management and Policy
Despite their recovery in recent decades, wolves in Canada are not without their threats. Until recently, for example, many wolves were being killed at Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park when they left park boundaries to hunt deer in the winter. Comprising more than 7700 square kilometers of forests, lakes, and rivers, Algonquin is the largest protected area for the Eastern wolf in North America (learn more).
In 2004, the compelling results of a long-term scientific study, coupled with pressure from Defenders and other wildlife groups, caused the Ontario government to permanently ban the hunting, trapping and chasing of wolves in and around Algonquin. This unprecendented move marked a major victory for wolf conservation in Canada, and the population now contains roughly 200 wolves at winter’s end.
Wolves as Scapegoats
In western Canada, wolves are being targeted by government-sanctioned killing programs aimed at “enhancing” other wildlife species—even though wolves are not the true culprit. Alberta’s Fish and Wildlife personnel, for example, are shooting and trapping wolves in the Little Smoky Woodland under the guise of saving woodland caribou, which are in reality threatened by habitat loss from industrial logging and oil and gas development.
Meanwhile, in northern British Columbia’s 6.4 million hectare Muskwa-Kechika Management Area, wolves are being controlled to boost big game populations for hunters. And wolves and other predators are being culled on Vancouver Island to ostensibly protect the island’s endangered marmot, which is losing critical forested habitat to logging.
The practice of killing predators to benefit prey species is usually biologically unfounded, and diverts attention from very real conservation concerns such as habitat loss and oil and gas development. The Canadian Program of Defenders will continue to monitor such management practices in the future, and looks forward to addressing this important issue as resources permit.
Wolf Management in Cattle Country
Alberta’s wolf population continues to be heavily managed, and conflicts with ranchers are a major source of mortality for wolves in Alberta’s cattle country. In 1974, the provincial government established a compensation program to assist livestock owners when predation does occur. Meanwhile, lethal control continues to be the management method of choice.
In 1991, the Alberta provincial government released its first Management Plan for Wolves in Alberta. This plan identified five major goals:
1. Maintain a viable provincial wolf population
2. Allocate the annual wolf harvest
3. Minimize property damage from wolves
4. Increase knowledge about wolves
5. Manage wolves to enhance other wildlife
Defenders is working to affect broad policy changes by demonstrating success with nonlethal methods at the local level. Meanwhile, some progress has been made in how lethal control is executed.
For example, under guidelines adopted by the Oldman River Basin Carnivore Advisory Group, lethal control is considered only after three predation episodes have occurred within three months. Lethal control is also incremental and as wolf-specific as possible (i.e., individual “offenders” are targeted, not the entire pack). Lastly, an entire pack cannot be removed from a given territory. Given that the wolf population is now closely monitored in southwestern Alberta, the “offending” pack can be accurately identified to prevent targeting all packs in the area.
Defenders is encouraging the province of Alberta to adequately fund wolf research, monitoring, and conservation efforts in southwestern Alberta (see Take Action). Management policies rooted in genuine conservation must be adopted as the basis for wildlife management so that wolves and other carnivores are recognized for their valuable role in the ecosystem.
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