Canada’s caribou population are in steep decline. That’s due in part to the destruction of habitat through logging, expanding tar sands production, and other industrial development in the province of Alberta.
But rather than focus on habitat conservation efforts to protect threatened caribou populations in the province, Canadian officials are poisoning and shooting wolves that prey on caribou.
The practice is not new in Alberta. But the stunning decline in Caribou herds is forcing the Canadian government to ramp up culling efforts around Alberta’s oil sands — potentially resulting in the death of 6,000 wolves over the next five years, according to the Pembina Institute, a Canadian environmental think tank.
Government officials didn’t confirm those figures, but one Canada’s environment minister admitted it would be “very large numbers.”
Environmental organizations are hammering the Canadian government over the killing of wolves, saying that it is proof of the cascading environmental impacts of tar sands production. The National Wildlife Federation released a short report today on the issue:
Two particularly repugnant methods of destroying wolves – shooting wolves from helicopters and poisoning wolves with baits laced with strychnine – would be carried out in response to the caribou declines. Strychnine is a deadly poison known for an excruciating death that progresses painfully from muscle spasms to convulsions to suffocation, over a period of hours. Wildlife officials will place strychnine baits on the ground or spread them from aircraft in areas they know wolves inhabit. In addition to wolves, non-target animals like raptors, wolverines and cougars will be at risk from eating the poisoned baits or scavenging on the deadly carcasses of poisoned wildlife.
These methods have already been used in Alberta to kill hundreds of wolves. Now the Canadian government wants to use them to kill thousands more.
According to a report from the Alberta Caribou Committee, it is very possible that increased industrial activity in Alberta — much of it driven by expanding tar sands mining — will cause the complete collapse of caribou populations living in the Boreal forest:
Boreal caribou will not persist for more than two to four decades without immediate and aggressive management intervention. Tough choices need to be made between the management imperative to recover boreal caribou and plans for ongoing bitumen development and industrial land-use.
The Canadian government agrees that caribou populations around Alberta and British Columbia are “very unlikely” to survive due to decades of sustained industrial development in fragile habitat. The dramatic expansion of tar sands is becoming a key driver of this habitat loss.
But rather than slow this type of environmentally-destructive activity to prevent Caribou (and now wolves) from being eviscerated, the Canadian government only plans to continue aggressive expansion of tar sands.
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It obviously would be much more effective addressing the poison coming from the fossil fuel industry corrupting both global and local ecosystems.
“..only plans to continue aggressive expansion of tar sands.”
n pipelines….
http://www.northerngateway.ca/environmental-responsibility/
If one looks close enough he can see Sauron’s eye.
So well said prokaryotes…
Not necessary to look closely. You can feel it boring in from 500 leagues away.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/climate+change+leaves+Arctic+caribou+cold/6106774/story.html
That is really sick. Herbivores always adapt to the local food supply, and their numbers are little affected by predation.
Sounds like the Alberta government wants a scapegoat.
“Texas north”? No, they are worse.
Considering the fact that the Canadian government is so far to the right as to make Dick Chaney feel at home, this isn’t surprising at all.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see that climate change eventually has massive effects on their population (if not already) as well.
This is a classic example of the logic that got us into the climate mess.
Make a mistake which results in death and destruction but rather than correct the mistake, just kill something else.
In this case, it will backfire again: when a wolf population is undisturbed, a pack takes only one large animal for a collective feast. When the pack is broken up by human culling, many wolves are forced to hunt alone or in couples and many more prey animals are taken, usually younger and smaller. More caribou will die- our mechanistic, ignorant and self-defeating logic at work yet once again, ME
Wow! Humans are at fault and yet the wildlife has to suffer even more. I thought Canada was better than that. Its so sad to see the ignorance of humans all for the sake of money.
You should see the ad campaigns here. The government likes to say it’s “a different kind of oil” or “ethical oil”.
The funny thing is the conservatives call themselves ‘progressive conservatives’. It’s so horrible. most of Canada’s big cities are as left-wing as you can get, yet how does this atrocity happen? Oh right (literally), suburbs and small towns.
Some are gearing up to challenge the tar sands with a mass civil disobedience campaign. Join the fun!
http://www.facebook.com/deepgreenresistanceboreal?sk=info
http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/deep-green-resistance-joins-anti-tar-sands-action-in-dc-hosts-fundraiser-for-tim-dechristopher/
Well why would this come as a surprise to anyone? When Caribou is actually “oppressing” tar-sand workers by getting in the way, is it not better to kill them all, and the wolves while they are at it?
Whenever any being comes in between “”human” development” and their pray, any seudo-activity by other species is a mild problem that can always be corrected with bullets… This is merely my opinion: “sick fuckers.”