CanadianWolves.net lets you help protect Canada's wolves
Wildcanada.net Action Alert - 138
Thursday October 23, 2003
Take Action
Canadian conservation groups are calling on Canadians to join people from around the world in recognition of International Wolf Awareness Week by visiting a new online Action and Resource Centre called CanadianWolves.net. Seven organizations have joined together to support priority issues in their own regions and promote conservation of wolf populations across Canada.
You can join the effort to protect Canada's wolves by visiting http://www.canadianwolves.net and using one of the five regional Action Centres. There is a "Youth Zone" and extensive background information to learn more about wolves.
"There is an urgent need to address the increasing risks to wolves across Canada," says Stephen Legault, Executive Director of Wildcanada.net, in launching www.CanadianWolves.net on Monday, October 20th. "In Canada today wolves are threatened by trapping, hunting, loss of habitat and regressive predator control policies harkening back not to the previous century, but the one before that."
Background
CanadianWolves.net calls attention to a plan by the BC government to kill predators that are considered a threat to the endangered Vancouver Island marmot. "Large carnivores are being treated as scapegoats for the long term decline in the marmot population when the real culprit has been clearcut logging," said Chris Genovali, Raincoast Conservation Society Executive Director. "The government has publicly stated they will explore non-lethal methods of keeping predators away from the marmots, and we plan to hold them accountable to their word."
The controversial Vancouver Island predator cull, approved last year by the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, will resume this winter. It calls for a total removal of wolves and cougars within 400 square kilometre buffers of marmot colonies, claiming this is necessary to protect the Vancouver Island marmot, Canada's most endangered species. Raincoast and the BC Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada have been working to have the plan scrapped, and are calling for the government to employ other methods of predator control to protect marmots.
In southwestern Alberta, Defenders of Wildlife Canada is working with ranchers and conservation officers to reduce livestock depredation and develop more wildlife-compatible ranching methods. "The wolf has been an animal of myth," says Jim Pissot, the group's Executive Director. "We hope to provide accurate information to all Canadians regarding the threats and opportunities surrounding wolf conservation."
In Ontario, wolves can be hunted, trapped and snared 365 days of the year. There are no limits to how many wolves a single person can kill. Add to this, the fact that wolves are only adequately protected on 3% of their Ontario range and a pretty dismal picture is painted for this species' future.
"Though wolves symbolize biodiversity for many Canadians, they are still being managed in Ontario as a vermin species and are afforded less protection than the raccoon," said Earthroots' spokeswoman Melissa Tkachyk. "Earthroots has confidence that Premier-designate McGuinty will keep his commitment to manage wolves as an integral part of the ecosystem." Earthroots is encouraging the new provincial government to deliver on their promise to create a wolf protection plan.
These problems are so severe in Algonquin Provincial Park that the park population is not self-sustaining. Things could soon turn for the worst, as a temporary moratorium on hunting and trapping around Algonquin Park expires in eight months. Ontario's new premier needs to take action to make the moratorium permanent, make sure it is enforced, and back it up with a provincial wolf conservation policy.
"Algonquin Park should be a stronghold for the Eastern Wolf, a federally listed species at risk," says Jean Langlois of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), "but these wolves won't be safe unless the public continues to speak up."
Canadians and people from around the world can support these efforts by taking action at http://www.canadianwolves.net.
CanadianWolves.net is a joint effort of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Ottawa Valley Chapter, Clan des loups d'Amerique du Nord, Defenders of Wildlife Canada, Earthroots, Sierra Club of Canada - BC Chapter, Raincoast Conservation Society, and Wildcanada.net.
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Donate to Protect Wolves: Donations can be made to Wildcanada.net to assist in the effort to protect Canada's wolves. Donations mailed to Wildcanada.net, Box 8145, Canmore, Alberta, Canada, and earmarked "wolves" will be used to enhance the Canadian Wolves web site. Remember: Wildcanada.net is a non-profit, not a charity, so we can't issue a tax receipt: we can, however, ensure you that your gift will be used wisely in the defence of Canada's wolves.
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Wildcanada.net, or if this has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up for Wildcanada.net's free provincial and national programs, visit http://www.wildcanada.net.