Four years into a five-year plan to remove wolves in an effort to help ailing caribou herds in British Columbia, it appears the action is helping caribou numbers stabilize.
According to a CBC report, two specific herds where the management action is taking place boosted caribou herd numbers anywhere from nine to 14 percent.
“The sad part of it all is that if we’re going to do a wolf cull to keep caribou populations around, we’re in this for the long haul,” Stan Boutin, University of Alberta biologist, told CBC. “As soon as you stop the cull, wolf numbers come right back up to what they were before, and caribou populations decline again.”
Caribou populations are struggling across Canada. The B.C. government is expected to wrap up a new caribou conservation plan by the end of 2019.
(Photo source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)