Photo by John E. Marriott / WildernessPrints.com
New documents obtained by The Fur-Bearers reveal that government contractors are killing wolf pups in British Columbia’s wolf cull.
Through a freedom of information request, The Fur-Bearers has received kill reports from the contractors hired by the BC government to shoot wolves from helicopters. The reports include descriptions of contractors collaring wolf pups, killing their packs, and then tracking the wolf pups to kill them at a later date. This information adds a disturbing new element to the government’s unethical and inhumane wolf cull.
In one report, a black female wolf pup identified by the contractors as #81234 (who we are naming Nadina after a mountain in the region where she was killed) was radio-collared on January 29, 2022. The contractors tracked and shot the seven wolves in her pack, but left Nadina alive. Six weeks later, on March 16, 2022, the contractors found her again. She was travelling with another black wolf pup. When the pair of wolf pups were spotted, the contractors killed both, later retrieving the radio-collar from Nadina’s dead body.
This horrific account is not an isolated incident, as the records include another report of a wolf pup being collared, tracked, and killed: wolf pup #45380. Screenshots of these accounts are provided below.
The killing of wolf pups by government contractors reveals the absence of ethical considerations for the methods used in the province’s wolf cull, despite the BC government claiming that the wolf cull is “humane”. The province’s approach to wildlife management needs to be questioned when pups are being used as ‘Judas Wolves’ to involuntarily betray their kin into getting shot, before they are killed themselves. The methods used, and the wolf cull itself, fail to meet fundamental principles of ethical wildlife control.
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. To learn more, view our wolf cull page by clicking here.
It’s time to end the wolf cull. This unethical treatment of wildlife has no place in British Columbia.
TAKE ACTION!
Send a letter to the Premier of British Columbia and call for an end to the wolf cull by filling out the form below. If you are a citizen of BC, increase your impact by requesting a meeting with your MLA and discussing your concerns with them directly. Information on how to look up your MLA and suggested messaging is located on our wolf cull page here.
