Nearly 40,000 beavers slaughtered in Saskatchewan in 2014

beaver kits
Beavers can cause infrastructure damage and impact land use in rural communities. But there are solutions available that protect the ecological super heroes and landowners. It’s time to tell the leaders of Saskatchewan to listen up.

According to CBC, 37,645 beavers were slaughtered last year in Saskatchewan as part of a control program sponsored by the province and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities.

This program is scientifically and morally void. By killing tens of thousands of beavers, all the province is doing is harming their environment. Beavers are an absolutely essential animal to the ecosystems they inhabit. They clean water, help prevent droughts and provide much needed habitat for amphibians, insects and bird species.

This wholesale slaughter of beavers is likely leaving behind starving kits, too. The young beavers rely entirely on their parents to provide for them for many months, until they’re capable of foraging on their own. It will also leave a gap in the food chain – all those predators who target beavers will be forced to look elsewhere for their sustenance. Following that, the scavengers who feed on the carrion of predators will also be looking for different meals – and down the chain it goes.

The entire program is boggling – and potentially devastating to the environment of Saskatchewan.

Click to see our non-lethal solutions?

The Fur-Bearers have long offered our services in providing non-lethal solutions to communities who are concerned with the potential infrastructure damage beavers can cause. These solutions are long-term, sustainable and work. They’re affordable and effective. And it’s mutually beneficial: beavers remain with their families and offer their instinctual ecosystem services.

TAKE ACTION

Please contact MLA Scott Moe, Minister of Environment for Saskatchewan (and your local MLA if you’re a resident of Saskatchewan) and demand that humane, non-lethal solutions be integrated into this program. Thousands of families are being torn apart because an easy out – one that isn’t effective in the long-term – is being used first. You can be the voice of the animals.

Email: env.minister@gov.sk.ca

Phone: (306) 787-0393

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Minister Scott,

The government of Saskatchewan is sponsoring the wholesale slaughter of beavers in an attempt to prevent frustration and damage to landowners. But the tens of thousands of deaths will not solve any problems in the long-term.

Beavers are going to continue breeding and attempting to dam in areas where resources are available. By utilizing non-lethal solutions such as tree wrapping, flow devices and appropriate landscape planning, beaver families can stay safely in their habitats and provide the incredible benefits to the environment, while preventing conflict with land use by farmers and others.

Please stop the needless killing and invest in plans that protect all those who inhabit Saskatchewan.

Your name and address

Please forward any correspondence you receive back from the government to fbd@thefurbearers.com.


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Established in 1953, The Fur-Bearers is a charitable, non-partisan organization whose goals are to end the commercial fur trade and promote solutions for wildlife coexistence in communities. Your donation is tax-deductible. Charitable registration number: 130006125RR0002

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