Terminate study that will kill and sterilize wolves

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Thursday » March 6 » 2008

Wolves targeted to boost elk hunt
Sterilization part of Alberta experiment to shrink packs

Cathy Ellis
For the Calgary Herald

Thursday, March 06, 2008

An experiment to shoot wolf pups and sterilize their parents so there could be more elk available for hunters is being met with howls of protest from conservationists, scientists and Parks Canada.

The experiment along Alberta’s central east slopes, near Rocky Mountain House, aims to reduce the number of wolves in four packs to two or three individuals, by sterilizing the alpha males and females and destroying other wolves in the packs.

The government-endorsed experiment is being conducted by University of Alberta researchers who have issued an academic pamphlet stating the goal is to balance the survival and persistence of wolves with ungulate hunting by humans.

“That’s one of the objectives — it’s not the only objective,” said Evelyn Merrill, a professor with the U of A’s department of biological sciences.

If successful, Merrill said the technique could be used to bolster elk numbers for hunters or boost the numbers of other prey animals such as caribou to restore endangered populations to healthy levels.

If the experiment works, the Alberta government would consider using this method to control wolf numbers.

“We feel our approach is one which maintains wolves in the landscape without hurting the population,” Merrill said.

But author and zoologist Paul Paquet, an expert on wolf research, says this experiment has nothing to do with good science or ecology, but is “destructive and morally reprehensible.”

He said it is difficult to label the experiment legitimate research based on its design, particularly because the wolf packs are already disturbed and subject to hunting and trapping.

“I think we are long past killing animals to benefit small groups of people who want to take pleasure in hunting and trapping,” said Paquet.

“This type of research does not belong in a university ecology and biology department. This is 1950s wolf management that has been updated to include sterilization.”

Paquet said the sterilization experiment could also prove extremely dangerous to the long-term viability of wolves in the region.

Early research in the region indicates wolf packs are productive and wolf densities are high, ranging from 19.7 wolves per 1,000 square kilometres in the foothills to five wolves over the same distance in the mountains.

Darcy Whiteside, a spokesman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, said the province supports the university’s research.

The province is providing support in-kind, he said, including resources such as snowmobiles, housing in the area and possibly covering some wages.

“Populations are always in fluctuation and we’re always looking at different opportunities and ways to manage all wildlife on the landscape,” Whiteside said.

The university wants to find out if the management strategy works.

“I want to stress this really is an experiment to evaluate the tool of wolf management,” said Merrill. “It’s not full-blown management of wolves.”

Researchers say limited field data from the Yukon suggests reducing wolf packs to two to three individuals and maintaining them at small sizes may allow ungulate herds to increase.

They say field observations suggest that following the sterilization and removal of other individuals, the small packs continue to defend their territory, thus preventing other wolves from coming in.

Parks Canada has voiced its opposition to any wolf control to increase elk densities, saying predator control in the 1960s created unnaturally high prey densities and problems that are still prevalent.

In particular, they have concerns about two wolf packs whose territories take in both provincial and federal lands, including a pack near Saskatchewan River Crossing between Banff and Jasper.

Ian Syme, Banff’s chief park warden, said Parks Canada recognizes wolves as an important part of the ecosystem.

Jim Pissot, executive director of Canmore-based Defenders of Wildlife Canada, said this appears to be another “bone-headed wolf cull poorly disguised as research.”

He said wolves typically take down weaker cows and calves, while humans take out the strongest and best adapted animals in the elk herd: bulls.

“Elk-wolf interaction is a natural ecological process, and except for extraordinary circumstances, nature should be left alone. This appears to be agricultural management of wildlife under the guise of a research project,” said Pissot.

The Alberta Fish and Game Association supports the experiment.

“Our ungulate herds have really been taking a beating from the size and number of wolf packs we have,” said Maurice Nadeau, the group’s president. “The balance between wolves and ungulates at the moment is obviously upset.”

Cathy Ellis is a reporter for the Rocky Mountain Outlook

© The Calgary Herald 2008

Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

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