B.C. wolf cull program targeting wrong issue, wildlife protection group says

B.C.’s ongoing wolf cull is missing the mark when it comes to helping endangered caribou populations, according to an organization focused on the protection of wildlife and their habitat.

Pacific Wild’s Ian McAllister didn’t pull any punches Saturday when he spoke about the latest numbers he said the organization got from the provincial government on its controversial wolf kill program.

“This isn’t just wildlife management, this is wildlife extermination,” he said.

He says the data shows 248 wolves were shot in the Interior this past season using helicopters and the so-called “judas wolf ” method, which includes putting a satellite receiver on one wolf and waiting until it reunites with the rest of its pack before killing all the wolves.

2:15 Controversial wolf kill program photos released by B.C. government

Victoria has been ordering the shooting of hundreds of wolves each year to help in the recovery of critically endangered herds of caribou. The province says the program works, but critics say it’s cruel and, in the long run, is a misguided measure to deal with the decline of the herbivores.

Those opposed to the wolf kill say the province could shoot hundreds of wolves every year and it still wouldn’t address the root cause of caribou decline, which it says is habitat destruction from clearcut logging.

2:13 B.C. government admits to no audits of wolf kill program

Global News has reached out to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, which runs the program, but did not receive a response by deadline.

The numbers Pacific Wild is reporting are consistent with data the ministry has confirmed in previous years. Since the program began in 2015, Pacific Wild says more than 2,100 wolves have been killed and it wants the program cancelled immediately.

“It’s really abhorrent,” McAllister said.