Contact Us
Email: info@pacificwild.org
Phone: 250-380-0547
Main Office
1529 Amelia Street, Victoria, BC
Lək̓ʷəŋən Territory
V8W 2K1
Field Office
P.O. Box 26
Denny Island, BC
Haíɫzaqv Territory
V0T 1B0
Amber of Valhalla Wilderness Society rests amongst the trees of British Columbia`s forgotten rainforest: the inland temperate rainforest, the home of the only deep-snow mountain caribou on earth.
An incredible opportunity to protect endangered caribou and old-growth biodiversity is being missed. Canada`s federal government has set the goal to conserve 30% of our nation`s land and water by 2030, but provincial decisions in B.C. are still missing the mark.
Instead of recommending initiatives for immediate protection and large-scale habitat restoration efforts, a recent government-funded study “https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2965” instead suggests culling of wolves for an indefinite amount of time to recover declining caribou populations.
Killing wolves does not solve the root cause of the problem, which is habitat loss. Even though the study showed that in the short-term caribou numbers are increasing due to feeding, penning, wolf sterilisation, moose reduction, and wolf culling, the long-term survival of caribou remains in question when their habitat is still being disrupted by logging and oil and gas activities.
The B.C. government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars subsidising these industries within critical caribou habitat- if these funds were redirected towards conservation measures the Province could demonstrate a genuine commitment to protecting 30% by 2030.
By ranking importance on economics over habitat preservation, we not only jeopardise the health of ecosystems but also undermine our own long-term well-being. The B.C. government needs to to break this cycle and commit to sustainable stewardship commitments.
We do not have to kill wolves to save caribou - we simply have to stop destroying caribou habitat.
📸 Ramey Newell.
#Forestry #30by30 #30by2030 #Biodiversity #SaveBCWolves #Caribou #Rainforest
The last two weeks have not been good for wolves in western Canada with the release of two studies that look at the decline of caribou populations. The first, a British Columbia and Alberta government-funded study released last month acknowledges habitat destruction as the root cause of dwindling caribou populations and advocates for the” indefinite” culling of wolves as a desperate measure to safeguard caribou as habitat restoration will span hundreds of years. It`s a distressing paradox considering that old-growth logging and oil and gas developments continue in endangered herd areas.
Another study, this one backed by the government of Alberta, a province notorious for its climate change denial, was published this past week and points the finger squarely at climate change as the problem. According to this narrative, it`s not habitat destruction but rather our rapidly changing climate that is pushing caribou populations to the brink. And no surprise, the paper suggests that the killing of wolves is one of the solutions.
Meanwhile, amidst the timely release of these scientific reports, the B.C. government’s Caribou Recovery Program has broken its ten-month silence with an update to stakeholders and the public that offers little solace to wolf advocates. Despite this year’s cull being completed by the end of March, no new data has been released from predator-reduction “management activity” over the past winter.
Whether its a reluctance to face the formidable centuries-long restoration of old growth caribou habitat (let alone halting all old-growth logging for a start) or the intangible goal of combating the uncertainties of climate change, both studies stand to justify the governments’ intention to slaughter wolves while keeping to their economic agenda. Once again, the blame game is in full swing, and wolves are facing dire straits while Alberta and British Columbia refuse to deal with the harsh realities of larger environmental crises. What we do know is that this approach makes both caribou and wolves susceptible to ultimate extermination as species.
#wolves #savebcwolves #wolfcull #wildlifeprotection #wildlifeconservation
🐟🎣The annual herring spawn and roe fishery may have finished, but herring are not out of hot water. On May 1st the Special Use herring fishery opened and will continue until November 6, 2024. This fishery is less focused, and smaller-scale than the herring roe fishery which occurs during the spawning season, but it does mean that herring are being commercially fished in one way or another nearly all year long . n the Special Use Fishery herring are fished both for bait and for human food, to supply zoos and aquariums and for personal, recreational, and commercial use.
Pacific Wild continues to advocate for implementing a precautionary approach to fisheries, particularly to herring which form the basis of the coastal ecosystem and just like the foundations of a house, could lead to collapse if they disappear.
Stay tuned for more updates and reflections of the current state of herring and what the 2024 spawn can tell us.
Footage courtesy of @iantmcallister
#PacificHerring #BigLittleFish #Conservation #PrecautionaryApproach
#HerringSpawn #BritishColumbia #BeautifulBritishColumbia
⏳️ Two weeks left to apply! Pacific Wild is excited to offer an opportunity to become our new Communications Manager.
Do you have a background in journalism and/or story telling? Are you both analytical and creative? This full-time role requires someone with a proven record of running exciting campaigns across various channels and platforms. The chosen candidate will be instrumental in creating visually captivating and strategic campaigns that are not only engaging but also firmly grounded in science. Our ultimate goal is to achieve positive conservation outcomes, and we need someone who shares our passion and is ready to contribute to this exciting journey for years to come. Find the full job description linked on our bio.
📝Please apply at hr@pacificwild.org with your resume and cover letter outlining your background and experience. Applications will be accepted until May 15, 2024 at midnight.
This is a full-time, permanent position working from our office in Victoria, B.C., Canada.
#wildlife #nature #career #team #DreamJob #Hiring #Communications #Conservation
More encouraging, environmental developments!
🐳 A team of 6 researchers in south-east Alaska played a humpback greeting call using an underwater speaker, prompting one whale, named Twain, to respond conversationally. Josie Hubbard, an animal behaviourist present, described the experience as entering another world: whales approached the boat, circled it for 20 minutes, and emitted distinct vocalisations. This unprecedented exchange hints at the possibility of communication with non-human intelligence and underscores the awe-inspiring complexity of whale behaviour.
🐟Nearly 500,000 juvenile salmon – 90,000 coho salmon, and 400,000 fall-run Chinook salmon – were released into the Klamath River (California) in a rewilding effort while work crews continued dismantling dams. “These baby fish represent hope,” said Yurok Tribal Council Member Phillip Williams. “The Klamath was mistreated for more than a century, but now the river is healing and so are we. Through dam removal, habitat restoration and hatchery augmentation, we are building a brighter future for the next generations.”
🐻 Nova Scotia is the only province in Canada with a black bear population that is not subjected to a spring bear hunt thanks to a public consultation that showed the majority of Nova Scotians are opposed to the hunt. Right now, bear hunting is only allowed in the fall in the province. Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables affirmed they are “committed to maintaining a stable and healthy bear population living in their natural habitat without negatively affecting the ecosystem.”
🐻Grizzly bears are one step closer to returning home to North Cascades National Park, where they have been functionally extinct for years. The restoration plan is based on more than thirty years of research and plans to translocate bears from a healthy source population into the North Cascades over several years until there is an established population of about 25 bears. Restoring grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem of Washington, where the animals once roamed is an important step towards restoring the ecological and cultural landscape of the area.
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The provincial taxpayer funded wolf cull operates under the guise of increasing caribou numbers by limiting predation in declining herds. A recent government funded study promotes the the widespread killing of wolves as a successful “short term” strategy for caribou recovery that may need to continue indefinitely, but the study does not include some key non-lethal options in its analysis of caribou recovery strategies.
Research by Jonah Keim, tested if blocking roads and other habitat access points could potentially reduce wolf encounters with caribou. Findings showed that by deploying obstacles to disrupt ease of movement on human developments, wolf-caribou encounters were reduced by 85% and black bear-caribou encounters by 60%. Moreover, treating less than 40% of linear developments was enough to achieve this effect for wolves. This research demonstrates that by managing animal movements that regulate predator-prey encounters, risk to endangered species can be reduced without the disrupting the balance of the ecosystem. Since wolf densities are typically dependent on moose and white-tailed deer populations, encounter-based management is likely to redistribute wolves with little or no impact on wolf populations. This approach provides an immediate benefit to vulnerable prey and a cost-effective alternative to predator removals or awaiting long-term habitat restoration.
Yet, amidst the discourse surrounding wildlife management, these non-lethal avenues remain conspicuously absent from policy discussions and conservation assessments. The B.C. and Alberta governments continue to choose industry over biodiversity, and wolves are paying with their lives.
Over 2000 wolves have died in the taxpayer-funded cull so far. Enough is enough.
Continuing to kill one animal to save another is not conservation - this is a war on wolves.
Share your thoughts. Let Premier David Eby know what you think. Call, email, or send the pre-written letter linked in our bio.
Phone: (250) 387-1715
Email: premier@gov.bc.ca
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