Co-existing with Wolves
By Peter Scholefield
During the past couple of years, there has been an increasing number of wolf sightings at different locations across on Gambier Island. There have been reports of attacks on dogs with the most recent one being that a dog was killed by a wolf in Gambier Estates on 17 November 2020. Following up on reports that he had received about the presence of wolves on Gambier Island, Conservation Officer, Leyland Klassen, provided the community, in early March 2020, with an information sheet on wolves and followed this up with a very informative webinar on predators on 9 April 2020. Click here to view on YouTube
The community was advised that the Conservation Officer Service report all sightings/pet and livestock losses/deer kills immediately at the 24/7 reporting line 1-877-952-7277.
Learning from the seminar that there was a lengthy annual hunting season for wolves on Gambier Island, the Conservancy sent a letter in June to the provincial Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development expressing our concern about the hunting and killing wolves on the island. We told him that the Conservancy is pleased to see wolves as part of that diversity in wildlife on the island and feel that they serve a useful role in maintaining the ecological balance. Furthermore, the Conservancy has no problem with conservation officers killing wolves that are a legitimate threat to the safety of local residents and their livestock or pets but objects to killing wolves for the purpose of recreation. The minister was therefore urged to put an end to the legal hunting season on wolves on Gambier Island. Here are two excerpts from the response to our letter:
“Maintaining the ecological integrity of Gambier Island is certainly a shared objective with our ministry, and wolves represent an important though somewhat intermittent element of the island’s ecosystem. As such, we want to continue to work with the Gambier Island Conservancy to both monitor and manage the current wolf population together. “
“Due to current and historic harvest pressures, the estimated population size and access to the island, we are confident that the current approach to hunting opportunities on the island will not result in a significant or negative impact to the population. “
Photo credit: Trevor Maidment