An overview of the B.C. government's long-term, multi-million dollar wolf kill program.
timeline categories
gray wolves
woodland caribou
critical habitat
B.C.’s Minister of Water Land and Resource Stewardship speaks to Global News in the face of growing public backlash against an extension to the B.C. wolf cull:
“We would absolutely not do any predator control that was not considered humane by scientists and biologists and those we care about animal welfare…I would say that I would be happy to look into anything that puts the welfare of the animals first. That includes an audit.”
– Minister Randene Neill
press coverage
Pacific Wild hand-delivers to government more than 1,800 individualized public comments and a joint letter from more than 80 organizations
Pacific Wild hand-delivers more than 1,800 individualized public comments opposing the proposed five-year extension of the wolf cull. Pacific Wild also submits a joint letter from more than 80 organizations, professionals, scientists, conservation groups, and wildlife-based tourism businesses.
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Syilx Okanagan Nation seeks emergency federal protection for Southern Mountain Caribou habitat
The Syilx Okanagan Nation seeks emergency federal protection for Southern Mountain Caribou habitat, highlighting Indigenous-led action to protect caribou habitat while B.C. continues to rely on predator reduction.
press coverage
B.C. government reopens a limited-entry caribou hunt in parts of the Peace region
Despite opposition from Pacific Wild and others, the B.C. government reopens a limited-entry caribou hunt in parts of the Peace region.
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B.C. allowed logging in caribou habitat despite ministry recommendation
Media coverage reports that B.C. allowed logging in caribou habitat despite internal ministry recommendations, reinforcing Pacific Wild’s argument that the Province is failing to address the root cause of caribou decline.
press coverage
B.C. quietly seeks feedback on proposed five-year cull extension
The B.C. government proposes a five-year extension of the predator reduction program and seeks feedback from a limited, undisclosed stakeholder list. Stakeholders, including Pacific Wild, were not provided with the comprehensive proposal and were only given until June 15, 2026 to submit feedback.
press coverage
B.C. First Nation opposes cull on its territory after footage of “Judas” wolf
Global News reports that a B.C. First Nation opposes the wolf cull on its territory after footage involving a Judas wolf, adding important Indigenous opposition and territorial context to the debate.
press coverage
New poll shows British Columbians overwhelmingly reject the wolf cull and want stronger protections for wolves
Pacific Wild releases polling showing strong public opposition to trophy hunting, wolf killing contests, leg-hold traps, neck snares, and aerial gunning. Respondents identify habitat destruction, fires, and climate change — not wolves — as the major causes of caribou decline.
learn more | read the press release
Federal government taken to court over 11-year delay in protecting caribou habitat
Ecojustice announces legal action over the federal government’s delay in mapping and protecting Southern Mountain Caribou critical habitat, underscoring that habitat protection remains central to caribou recovery.
press coverage
New study suggests wolf reduction only helped caribou calves in rugged terrain
The study cautions that wolf reduction should only be considered after assessing predator communities, habitat conditions, and landscape features, and warns it may need to continue indefinitely without habitat recovery.
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Pacific Wild releases expanded Wolf Resource List
Pacific Wild publishes an expanded science resource with more than 100 research summaries on caribou decline, habitat destruction, wolf management, predator control, Indigenous-led conservation, ethics, public disapproval, non-lethal strategies, and legal/policy frameworks.
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New study predicts North American caribou populations to decline by up to 84%
The study predicts severe climate-driven declines for North American caribou, including an 84% decline in abundance and 71% range contraction by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario.
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Brutal British Columbia campaign goes global on International Wolf Day
Pacific Wild and ONE23WEST launch international billboards in London and Berlin and hold a public action at the B.C. Legislature, linking the wolf cull to B.C.’s global reputation, tourism economy, and failure to protect wildlife and habitat.
press coverage
Ministry review of predator reduction program underway
The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says a review of the predator reduction program is underway, with results expected in early 2026. Pacific Wild treats the review as a possible opening for change while continuing to call for the program to end.
press coverage
Pacific Wild’s Brutal British Columbia pop-up opens in downtown Victoria
ONE23WEST transforms the Eagle Feather Gallery into a souvenir shop for a day to film public reactions to the reality of B.C.’s wolf cull and wildlife management.
press coverage
B.C. Timber Sales pauses logging in core caribou habitat near Revelstoke
Pacific Wild reports that, in response to public pressure, B.C. Timber Sales paused logging plans in a portion of core caribou habitat near Revelstoke. Pacific Wild describes the pause as limited but significant because it points toward habitat protection rather than predator persecution.
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Pacific Wild publishes FOI findings, exposing the dark reality of B.C.’s wolf cull
After filing 18 FOI requests and reviewing more than 1,600 pages of records, Pacific Wild publishes findings on helicopters, hazing, dead piles, game cameras, net-gunning, duct-taping, Judas wolves, semi-automatic firearms, and caribou necropsy reports. Pacific Wild argues the records reveal inhumane methods, legal grey areas, and flawed science.
read the blog | read the press release
Cull total reaches 2,543 wolves killed since 2015
Pacific Wild reports that B.C. killed 351 wolves between December 2024 and March 2025, a sharp increase from the 248 wolves killed the previous season and the second-highest annual total since the cull began.
Retired SPCA constable assesses the B.C. wolf cull
Pacific Wild publishes an interview with retired SPCA constable Dale Bakken, who reviews released wolf cull images and questions the Province’s claim that aerial shooting from helicopters can be humane.
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Pacific Wild publishes FOI findings on the use of “Judas wolves”
Pacific Wild publishes FOI findings on the use of radio-collared “Judas wolves” to locate and kill entire wolf packs. Pacific Wild reports that at least 44 wolf packs or families were killed using this method in 2023 and 2024.
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Cull total reaches 2,192 wolves killed since 2015
Pacific Wild reports that the Province killed 248 wolves and 6 cougars between December 2023 and March 2024, bringing the total number of wolves killed under the cull to 2,192 since 2015.
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Health Canada bans all uses of strychnine
Health Canada bans strychnine across Canada. Pacific Wild identifies this as a win for wolves and other wildlife after decades of painful poisonings.
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Caribout Wolves billboards expand to Prince George
After the Kelowna billboard campaign, Pacific Wild launched 3 new Caribout Wolves billboards around Prince George to raise awareness about caribou habitat loss, the wolf cull, and taxpayer costs.
New survey finds Canadians have highly positive views of wolves
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Pacific Wild published Caribout Wolves Science Resource List
The Caribout Wolves website also features a science resource list compiled by ecologist Amelia Porter (MSc, EP, RPBio) that contains over 50 reference summaries from research articles, books, and government documents. Topics include: caribou habitat protection, predator control effectiveness, unintended consequences of predator removal and more.
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Pacific Wild mapping shows 136,000 km² of caribou habitat lost
Pacific Wild reports that its mapping research shows approximately 136,000 km² of caribou habitat has been lost to human disturbance — more than four times the size of Vancouver Island — while B.C. continues relying on wolf killing instead of binding habitat protection and restoration.
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Pacific Wild launches Caribout Wolves campaign and first billboard goes up in Kelowna
Pacific Wild launches Caribout Wolves, a public education campaign explaining why killing wolves will not save caribou without habitat protection. The first Caribout Wolves billboard goes up in Kelowna and generates more than 3.5 million impressions in its first three months.
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Cull total reaches 1,944 wolves killed since 2015
The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship reports that 1,944 wolves have been killed from 2015–2023. FOI records obtained by CBC show that over $10 million has been spent on the cull.
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Pacific Wild is heading for the courts to fight the B.C. government’s controversial wolf cull that has resulted in more than 1000 wolves being killed over the last five years.
This legal filing comes on the heels of a new study published in the Journal of Biology and Conservation which found the government-sponsored kill program has had no detectable effect on reversing the decline of endangered caribou populations.
“Hundreds of wolves are being killed each year in the most horrific fashion, at tax-payer expense. It’s disheartening to learn that on top of our legal counsel finding grounds to prove this program is likely unlawful under B.C. law, there’s also now confirmation from a renowned academic publication that culling is having no positive impact for caribou recovery,” said Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild’s Executive Director. “We’re fully prepared to challenge the B.C. government in court on this matter.”
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New study in the Journal of Biology and Conservation found no evidence that culling wolves counteracts caribou population decline.
According to the research, the BC government-sponsored kill program is having virtually no detectable impact on reversing endangered caribou declines in the province. Researchers instead point out that habitat protection is the key to caribou survival. The BC government has spent millions of tax dollars over the past six years killing more than 1000 wolves. In this year alone, over 460 wolves have been brutally killed by aerial snipers and trappers.
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New study from the University of Montana has outlined the B.C. government’s ineffective approaches to endangered caribou recovery
Despite listing status through the federal Species At Risk Act, little has been done to protect old-growth caribou habitat as more than 900 square kilometres has been approved for logging. Rather than protecting this dwindling habitat, our government continues to blame wolves for caribou population declines.
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Our online petition to #SaveBCWolves crossed a monumental milestone, exceeding half a million signatures.
Garnering this much support has been a long time coming. We’ve been working with our partners to spread the word about this issue and collect signatures since the current killing program was greenlit in 2015. Now we want to thank all of our wolf advocates for adding their voices to this issue and ask for continued engagement as we move forward. After all, there’s still much more work to be done.
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Legal counsel finds B.C. wolf cull program to be in direct violation of the province’s own laws.
Pacific Wild has issued a Cease and Desist letter for the cull to Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, Doug Donaldson. It’s time to put a stop to this cruel excuse for conservation and use taxpayer dollars for something useful.
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80% of BC wolves could be killed under expansion of controversial program
A recently-leaked internal document dated Aug 22, 2019 has revealed the B.C. government’s intentions to expand the wolf cull program, targeting 80% of wolf populations in some areas. Pacific Wild rallies people from around the world to speak out against the cull expansion, nearly reaching 500,000 signatures on our #SaveBCWolves petition.
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B.C. Interior hunting groups under fire for “wolf-whacking” contests
The government has turned a blind eye to rogue “wolf-killing contests” being held in the province’s interior and the recent 2019 bilateral draft agreement between the governments of Canada and B.C. does not reject the use of poisons such as strychnine nor killing pups in their dens.
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B.C. approves 314 new cutblocks in endangered caribou habitat over last five months
The B.C. government approved 314 new logging cutblocks in the critical habitat of southern mountain caribou over the past five months, while simultaneously negotiating conservation plans to protect the highly endangered species.
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“New survey of permits granted by province highlights incongruity between treatment of forestry companies and a critically imperilled species”
Since May 2018, the provincial government has approved 83 new logging cutblocks in critical habitat of B.C.’s eight most at-risk southern mountain caribou populations – the same eight herds that were singled out in May by federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna.
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B.C. government expands bighorn sheep hunting at the same time that it targets wolves to protect two herds
This decision is in direct conflict with the provincial wolf management plan which states that the government does not support predator control for the purpose of hunting ungulate populations.
“All hype, no help: B.C. draws ire from scientists over caribou plan”
Scientists criticize the province’s new Draft Caribou Recovery Program for failing to comply with legal obligations under the Species at Risk Act and ignoring the role of logging, mining, and oil and gas activities in caribou decline.
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“Caribou are about to disappear completely from the contiguous United States — and the B.C. government is to blame”
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna declares that southern mountain caribou face “imminent threats.”
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Pacific Wild takes over the streets of Vancouver for a second time with #SaveBCWolves billboards
Pacific Wild’s advocacy platforms see a surge in numbers: to date, 10,000 letters and over 350,000 signatures have been submitted to #SAVEBCWOLVES.
Government Proposes Extension Of Wolf Trapping On Vancouver Island
The B.C. government releases an unscientific regulation proposal to increase the trapping of coastal wolves on Vancouver Island, genetically-distinct from inland grey wolves, to 10 months out of the year.
“Woodland caribou continue to decline as provinces fail to meet protection deadline”
Provinces are responsible for protecting a minimum of 65% of caribou habitat from disturbance. This provides merely a 60% chance of survival. The five-year federal deadline for nine Canadian provinces and territories to release their plans to conserve woodland caribou passed on Oct. 5, 2017. Not a single one met that deadline.
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“NDP orders review of government reliance on industry-hired experts”
We rally the public to support restructuring the governance of B.C.’s “professional reliance” system, requesting that one of the steps forward addresses the societal, ecological and economic roles that healthy populations of wild wolves can fulfill.
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“Hunter-Funded Wildlife Agency Quietly Announced Before B.C. Election”
Pacific Wild and dozens of organizations call for more transparent science-based decision making and denounce a plan to form a new independent wildlife management agency which would relieve the provincial government from managing contentious wildlife issues such as wolf and caribou populations.
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6,000 Letters Sent
Pacific Wild sends over 6,000 letters to the provincial government from around the globe calling for an end to the wolf cull. No response was received from the provincial government.
More scientists speak out: “Why has past wolf killing not worked?”
“When you come to appreciate individual wolves as personalities and as remarkable social animals, it becomes abhorrent to kill them for such dubious, pseudo-scientific reasons,” said Dr. John and Mary Theberge, senior wolf biologists who have run the longest, most intensive, telemetry-based wolf research program in Canada.
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“B.C. government scientists admit wolf cull is inhumane, then propose to expand it”
We join two dozen NGO’s in a collaborative media release responding to a provincial government document that admits the culling of wolves is inhumane, yet recommends expanding aerial gunning of wolves, along with increased hunting of mountain lions, moose and deer.
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Legal case exposes B.C. government’s wilful negligence of duty to protect wildlife, ecosystems
An affidavit that is part of the Province’s response to Pacific Wild and Valhalla Wilderness Society’s petition for a Judicial Review of the cull is released: Province admits there is not enough intact habitat left for endangered caribou herds in the South Peace.
Wildlife Defence League introduces the world to “A Judas Wolf Named Ghost”
Judas wolves like Ghost are fitted with GPS radio collars: once they have rejoined their pack mates, the pack is systematically gunned down and killed.
“Cull opponents take B.C. to court over ‘war on wolves’”
Backed by local and international groups, Pacific Wild and Valhalla Wilderness Society challenge the legality of the wolf cull program.
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“Documents indicate B.C. wolf cull linked to forest industry concerns”
Freedom of Information request filed by Wilderness Committee suggests the wolf cull was prompted by forest industry members opposed to giving up land leases for habitat protection efforts.
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“Miley Cyrus confident science and sentiment coincide in battle against B.C. wolf cull”
International condemnation builds as singer Miley Cyrus travels to B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest with Pacific Wild to speak out against the war on wolves.
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#SaveBCWolves billboard advertisements hit the streets of Vancouver
Pacific Wild’s ad campaign was made possible thanks to more than 1,200 Indiegogo supporters.
173,400 people from around the world sign our #SaveBCWolves petition
Over 60 Canadian and international signatories, including Pacific Wild, voice opposition in an open letter addressed to the B.C. Premier.
“B.C. launches wolf hunt to save caribou”
Ministry of Environment documents describe the program as an “experimental” effort that might not work because resource development has affected caribou habitat so severely.
