Snare Kills Algonquin Wolf Despite Moratorium
From Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Ottawa Valley Chapter
Monday, October 06, 2003
Groups urge Ontario to close loophole
OTTAWA — A dead wolf found lying on a frozen lake in Algonquin Park in
February will never howl again, but provides silent testimony to a flawed
moratorium that was supposed to protect her and all the wolves in one of
Ontario’s largest parks. The radio-collared wolf was part of a study
conducted by Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources scientists to evaluate
the impact of a temporary moratorium on wolf killing in all townships
adjacent to Algonquin Park. Researchers discovered that a wire neck snare
had slowly killed the wolf, found lying in a pool of blood on Vesper Lake.
The wolf had managed to break free from the tree or pole that kept her
tethered in place, but she could never outrun the wire noose cutting into
her neck. She finally succumbed to her wounds on Vesper Lake.
“This wolf was killed by an intentional loophole in the regulations,” says
Jean Langlois of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS). CPAWS
believes that the most likely scenario is that the wolf fell victim to a
snare that was set within the moratorium zone. A legislative loophole
makes it perfectly legal for trappers to set snares in the moratorium zone
if the “intended” target is a coyote, a loophole introduced during the
formulation of the moratorium regulations. The province did an historical
about-face in failing to make the protection for wolves apply to coyotes
also, despite warnings that this would make the ban unenforceable and
ineffective. Eastern wolves may easily be mistaken for coyotes and shot in
error; neck snares do not distinguish between coyotes and wolves.
If the animal was snared outside the moratorium zone, conservationists
charge that this is a consequence of the government’s negligence in
failing to enact a provincial wolf conservation policy, despite a need
identified by conservationists. Langlois concludes: “In either case, the
bottom line is that a park wolf was killed by a snare, despite the
moratorium.” Outside Algonquin Park and the temporary protection zone, it
remains an open season on wolf hunting, trapping and snaring across the
province and there is no limit on how many gray wolves or Eastern wolves
can be killed.
“This wolf’s excruciating death demonstrates that the use of snares has no
place within the Algonquin moratorium zone, or anywhere else in the
province,” says Melissa Tkachyk of Earthroots. Snares do not always kill
quickly or painlessly, they do not discriminate between protected and
non-protected species, and unlike in some other jurisdictions, the
province requires no identification markers on snares to indicate who set
them. So far, MNR officials have come up empty-handed in their attempt to
identify who set the snare and where it was set.
The moratorium around Algonquin Park is set to arbitrarily expire in June
2004. CPAWS and Earthroots maintain that Algonquin’s wolf population will
not be safe or sustainable until the province institutes both a permanent
effective buffer zone around the park that includes coyotes, and a
province-wide wolf conservation policy with adequate monitoring and
enforcement measures.
For more information, contact:
Jean Langlois
Executive Director
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Ottawa Valley Chapter
jlanglois@cpaws.org
Web site:
http://www.cpaws-ov.org