Advocates suggest BC taxpayer-funded wolf cull is hypocritical

Animal advocates are calling the BC government’s taxpayer-funded wolf pup cull hypocritical.

According to documents obtained by The Fur-Bearers, a group that advocates for the protection of Canadian wildlife, government contractors are killing wolf pups as part of BC’s wolf cull.

According to the BC government, the wolf cull was put in place to help mountain caribou, which are at risk of extinction. However, The Fur-Bearers suggest that that statement is hypocritical.

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The Fur-Bearers made a freedom of information request and received kill reports from the contractors that the BC government has hired. If you’ve never heard about the wolf cull, essentially, these contractors shoot at wolves from helicopters.

A statement from The Fur-Bearers says that the obtained reports “include descriptions of contractors collaring wolf pups, killing their packs, and then tracking the wolf pups to kill them at a later date.”

The documents the animal advocacy group received share gruesome details of how wolf pups were tracked and killed. The Fur-Bearers suggest that the cull lacks ethical considerations regarding the methods used to kill the wolves involved.

Where the potential hypocrisy comes into play is what The Fur-Bearers suggest is the reason why caribou populations are diminishing.

“Wolves are being killed every winter in British Columbia as part of the government’s caribou recovery program. But the root causes of caribou population declines are humans, not wolves. The Province needs to address the human-caused disruptions to critical caribou habitat and stop killing wolves.”

Earlier this year, the BC government renewed the controversial wolf cull for another five years.

The BC government took public opinion into account with a survey.

More than 15,000 surveys were completed between September 15 and November 15, 2021 — 59% of respondents were against predator reduction, while 37% were in support. Additionally, 98% said caribou recovery is important to them.

One in six respondents also said they believe the damage to caribou habitat from natural resource extraction is one of the leading causes of caribou population decline.

In 2021, the BC government was taken to court over the cull.

With files from Michelle Morton