A Wildlife Article from All-Creatures.org




Wyoming Wolf: The Canadian Perspective

From The Fur-Bearers: Protecting Canadian Wildlife Since 1953
April 2024

A survey commissioned by The Fur-Bearers in 2023 and administered by Research Co. showed 70% of survey respondents have positive attitudes toward wolves, and 68% of respondents said that killing wolves to protect another species was wrong. Additionally, 83% of Canadians agreed that wolves are important members of Canadan ecosystems and should be protected.

Banff Wolf
Banff Wolf, Image by John E. Marriott

There are no appropriate words to describe the anger and outrage felt after reading the allegations of a Wyoming man torturing a wolf and posing for photos with the suffering animal at a bar, prior to killing them either by beating or shooting. He was later fined $250 for possessing live wildlife. The latest news reports indicate the Sublette County Sherrif’s and Attorney’s Offices are investigating the man and incident.

The Fur-Bearers, and everyone on our team, was deeply disturbed to read this news. We are encouraging all American residents to follow the lead of the many outstanding NGOs advocating for change (such as HSUS or the International Wolf Center). Canadians wishing to take action can contact the Wyoming Office of Tourism to call for change to the policies, laws, and lack of protection for wolves in the state.

Not unique to Wyoming

A lack of protections for wolves – sentient, family-oriented animals who provide essential apex predator ecosystem services – is not unique to Wyoming. It is legal to hunt and/or trap wolves in much of Canada, and some specific areas have no bag limits – meaning a trapper or hunter could literally wipe out an entire pack and be legally protected.

The aerial tracking and killing of wolves in an ill-advised plan to protect endangered caribou herds is ongoing in British Columbia, despite clear evidence resource extraction and exploitation is the true driving force behind the caribou declines.

The Fur-Bearers confirmed through research that government contractors were collaring, tracking, and killing juvenile wolf pups. In one incident, a wolf pup was collared, her entire pack of seven wolves were tracked and killed, leaving her orphaned. Six weeks later she was located travelling with another wolf pup, the contractors shot them both. Click here to read more about this story and read the contractor’s tracking reports.

Poisoning still legal

We recently celebrated the end of strychnine as an available predacide in Canada, but Compound 1080 remains legal and in use. Sodium monofloroacetate (the chemical name of Compound 1080) causes extreme suffering and a slow death to any animal that digests it – including wolves. To make matters worse, any animal that consumes Compound 1080 and moves away from the bait site may die without being found, and becomes another poisonous bait in the environment.

Survey shows Canadians support wolf protections

A survey commissioned by The Fur-Bearers in 2023 and administered by Research Co. showed 70% of survey respondents have positive attitudes toward wolves, and 68% of respondents said that killing wolves to protect another species was wrong. Additionally, 83% of Canadians agreed that wolves are important members of Canadan ecosystems and should be protected.


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