For immediate release
Victoria, B.C., (February 14, 2025)
As families across British Columbia prepare to gather for Family Day, 34 wolf families will not be doing the same. Between January and March of 2024, these families were systematically slaughtered under the province’s ongoing wolf cull—a program in place since 2015 that continues to fail both science and wildlife.
Wolves are highly intelligent, social animals that live in dynamic family groups called packs. Like human families, they have complex hierarchies and social structures that ensure their survival.
As a keystone species, wolves are critical in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Yet, the B.C. government continues its aggressive campaign to eliminate entire packs, citing the protection of endangered caribou as the justification for reducing wolf populations by 80 percent in targeted areas. This artificial control threatens individual wolves and the genetic diversity and ecological balance needed for biodiversity to thrive.
“The government is misleading the public,” says Mollie Cameron, Wolf Campaigner with Pacific Wild. “Killing wolves won’t save caribou when their habitat is being destroyed by industry. This isn’t conservation—it’s extermination.”
A Costly and Failing Strategy
Right now, B.C.’s wolf cull is in full force. Each winter, government-hired contractors in helicopters chase wolves through deep snow before gunning them down from above. One of the most disturbing tactics is the “Judas Wolf” program, where wolves are fitted with radio collars and unknowingly mark their own families for death, as the collar allows the marksmen to track the wolf back to its pack, ultimately leading to the slaughter of an entire family group.
Since the cull began, taxpayers have spent over $11 million to kill 2,192 wolves—an average of approximately $5,000 per wolf. Scientists argue that this approach ignores the real drivers of caribou decline: industrial logging, oil and gas development, and mining.
“British Columbia’s decision to scapegoat wolves is a failure to protect and restore the habitat caribou need to survive,” says Karen McAllister, Executive Director of Pacific Wild. “On this Family Day, we must acknowledge the wolf families being wiped out by this government-sanctioned slaughter and demand real conservation solutions that protect all species before it’s too late.”
Media contact:
Laurie Hamelin
Communications Lead, Pacific Wild
comms@pacificwild.org
604-724-6411 (cell)
Additional Information
34 Wolf Families Wiped Out In B.C.’s Cull
A recently released FOI has revealed the names of the wolf families killed in 2024 under the province’s ongoing cull. Each name represents a lost pack and failure of conservation.
Background:
Contractor Notes from 2024 Cull
Graphic Content – Government Images Of Culled Wolves
Media:
Contact Laurie Hamelin for access to high resolution images & B-roll.
About Pacific Wild
Pacific Wild is a Canadian charity dedicated to wildlife conservation throughout the Pacific Northwest.
