Filed under: Wolf Conservation | Tags: Canadian Wolf Coalition, wolf buffer zones, wolf conservation
During his pre-election campaign, Jim Abbott paid the Wolf Centre a visit. We had been writing politicians like Mr. Abbott for years to listen about wildlife conservation. Conservation of wildlife and the health of the environment is not a priority for our government. But look at the popular vote that political movement like the Green Party are garnering these days. As more young people actually get off their butts and vote, and some ignorant old folk die off, we will see change. When it comes down to it, economy, child care, and health care matter only if we have a healthy planet to live on. But we digress.
Well, wolves are not a “species at risk” according to Canada. Why protect wolves – and not some of the other species who actually have threatened or endangered status? We can blabber on about “keystone”, and “apex predator”, and the fact that wolves have a bad rap… but what it boils down to is that wolves really are like an “umbrella”. By protecting wolves, we are protecting untold numbers of species below them on the food chain. Try googling “willows and wolves”, and you’ll see a great example in Yellowstone National Park.
It’s admitted that several of our National Parks, specifically Yoho and Kootenay, are simply not large enough to protect wolves. On the Kootenay Park website, they say that “Areas with healthy wolf populations generally have intact wilderness. Conserving wolves means conserving wilderness.”
Now, we understand that Mr. Abbott has a wide variety of people in his constituency, and it is simply not possible to please everyone. To be clear about the proposed buffer zones: we are aware that there are ranches, farms, and towns within the 200km zone we are requesting, as well as trapping lines that have been in use for over a century. It has certainly got to be a win-win situation for everyone involved. But since hunting/shooting and traffic are leading causes of mortality for wolves in the Central Rockies, including the Parks, it certainly makes sense to control how and when people are allowed to kill wolves… just as it is important that the transportation routes through the Parks are getting more underpasses and overpasses built!
Now that he has been elected as our Member of Parliament once again, we are counting on his support. In the coming weeks, we’ll post some background on the history of buffer zones in the Central Rockies, and also on what the people of Ontario did to make their campaign a success.
