ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – A group that includes survivors of moose-vehicle accidents is calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to cull the province’s large moose population.
The Save Our People Action Committee said Thursday that killing the animals to protect human lives is the best way to reduce about 800 incidents a year on provincial highways. Two fatal accidents a year, on average, are blamed on the top-heavy and unpredictable animals.
Former MP Richard Cashin, an adviser to the group, accused the province of ignoring the need for a cull because it fears an animal- rights backlash.
“I find it more than ironic that the position of the wildlife resource managers vis-a-vis culling is more akin to animal welfare groups and Greenpeace’s view to the seal fishery than it is to the thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with whom and for whom I worked,” he told a news conference.
“The policy that has been endorsed by the government is that culling is socially unacceptable. This has never been debated publicly.”
A $5-million pilot project announced Wednesday by the Progressive Conservative government includes moose fencing along the Trans-Canada Highway. It will also set up a flashing-light detector system to warn drivers of moose near the roadway, and expand brush cutting.
Get daily National news
But Cashin and other critics said the plan falls short because it includes no cull of the moose population.
- 3 in 10 Albertans would vote for independence — but only half committed to separating: poll
- China’s envoy says Beijing, Ottawa ‘eye to eye’ on supporting Greenland
- Intense cold forces flight delays, cancellations at Canadian airports
- Trump threatens 100 per cent tariffs on Canada over China trade ties
Estimates of how many moose are roaming the province vary widely. An outfitters website pegs the number at between 120,000 to 150,000.
An unproven statement of claim filed by moose-vehicle accident victims who want to sue the province put the number as high as 200,000.
Environment Minister Ross Wiseman said Thursday that the most recent count in March by his department’s wildlife division – the only agency actually tracking moose numbers – indicates a population of about 110,000.
That number was arrived at using a grid system, fly-over counts and a modelling methodology used to manage wildlife in other parts of North America, he said in an interview.
The estimate of 110,000 is on par with the moose population in 1987 and is down from a peak number of 140,000 in 1997, he stressed.
“We’ve not reflected on what would be socially acceptable,” Wiseman said of the moose pilot project. “What we’ve reflected on is the need to be targeted in our initiative to ensure that we have an impact on the number of moose-vehicle accidents on our highways.”
To that end, the province has added an extra 5,020 hunting licences this year – the biggest increase in its history – in highway zones, and has extended the hunting season by four weeks, Wiseman said.
Away from the Trans-Canada Highway, hunters and outfitters are witnessing “a significant decline in the moose population,” he added.
“For those who are avid hunters, many of them have accused me of actually initiating a cull without calling it a cull because we’ve had the largest number of moose licences ever issued this year.”
The total moose quota is now 33,400.
Such numbers are cold comfort to families devastated by the loss of loved ones.
John and Nancy Neil made the one-hour drive to St. John’s from South River, N.L., to be at the news conference. Their son Johnathon died one day before his 23rd birthday last September when his vehicle struck a moose on a side road.
“I’m happy with it but it’s a small, small start,” John Neil said of the province’s moose pilot project. “I’ve been talking to a lot of people out there, and a lot of people are saying get rid of them completely.
“You can’t be doing that because we’ve got outfitters making a living off (moose.) I understand that. I don’t want to get rid of the moose either, to be honest with you, because they are a nice animal. But we have to control them.”
Comments