Haunani Hess

14 hours ago, Doug Pazienza said:

Thank you Focus and Judith Lavoie for this article.  Most of all, thank you Gary Schroyen.  You are the ultimate nature ally to the wolves of Sooke.  What can one say that hasn't already been expressed by others here?  Or that which I already expressed  here

Perhaps because I have been intensively active in wolf conservation and ecology, I am impatient for the public discussion to evolve past the cliches: we haven't had any complaints, there have been no calls from concerned people.  When are we going to grow-up and accept that "Little Red Riding Hood" is a fairytale?  

I concur with others who regard this as a colonialistic viewpoint that needs to be challenged.  Our European forebears ravaged ecosystems and this frontier mentality needs to be consigned to the past.

Healthy wolves are not interested in eating you for dinner.  And wolves are specialists in wild predation.  They prefer wild prey.  And if you are so irresponsible as to let your pets run unaccompanied in the forest because you can't be bothered to exercise them then yes, a wolf might kill it as a wolf might kill any other interloping wolf. 

Pity the domestic pet and shame on the owner.

If you are a farmer or rancher, you owe it to your flock or herd to protect them.  You also owe it to the wild predators on whom you are encroaching to safeguard your livestock with non-lethal wolf deterrents including increased human presence, woven wire and electric fencing, a squad of trained guard dogs of specific breeds, llamas, donkeys and flagging.

The positive comments by the inhabitants of Sooke for the local wolves is an indication of high social tolerance for them.  Is that to some degree borne out of ignorance?  Probably.  Many did not know they were there.  But I think there is irrefutable evidence to show that the majority support an end to year-round unlimited wolf hunting and trapping.

It is high time that the BC provincial government acts.  I certainly hope that Raincoast Conservation is consulted as they seem to have done more for BC conservation than anyone.  And their researchers have pioneered  a social license approach to hunting that is even more progressive than the stakeholder model.

I caution that a “scientific, data-driven and evidence-based study that includes consultation with the Island’s Indigenous communities, to re-examine the efficacy of unrestricted wolf harvesting practices and their impacts on the Island’s biodiversity, wildlife ecology and sustainability of the resident wolf population.”  sounds very bureaucratic.  "Management" has historically meant culling and it is time to move the baseline on from that as a starting point.  Nature's self-organizing principle means that nature will find its own stasis if we would stop meddling with it.  The research has already been done.  Contact the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, USA and they can signpost you. 

It is time to take back wildlife management and conservation from the hunting community.  The North American approach to funding conservation through license (user) fees and setting policy that appeases deer hunters et al is archaic and not used in Europe.  Besides the number of licensed hunters is declining, hence the revenue stream.

I disagree that wolves eat 40lbs of flesh daily.  Sometimes they don't eat for days and then gorge on a large mammal over a couple days.  I don't know where Grand Chief Stewart Phillip got that information but I believe it is incorrect.

Finally, Indigenous or non-indigenous, trapping is a cruel and inhumane practice that has no place in a civilized society. 

I think the basis of psychopathic behavior stands alone as a fitting argument to make this activity illegal.   It really is the most simple and appropriate reaction.  To keep society safe, we must demand behavior that is modeled after non-violence and respect for life.