Here's a news tidbit I thought you guys might be interested in. What do you guys think? The Vancouver Island Marmot is almost extinct and the Island's Blacktail Populations are way down. The Island cougar populations are some of the most aggressive there is. Most attacks on people and pets that have happened in the last few years have happened on the Island.
Minister approves wolf, cougar kill to protect Island marmot
Hunters and trappers would be encouraged to cull predators near marmot colonies
By: Judith Lavoie
Victoria Times Colonist
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=9de30b2c-9fdf-44af-b9c7-47cdab6c77b5
Vancouver Island wolves and cougars will be killed in an effort to save the endangered Vancouver Island marmot.
Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Joyce Murray said Monday she has approved staff recommendations to focus regular hunting and trapping of wolves and cougars in buffer zones around two marmot colonies.
"It will affect about five per cent of Vancouver Island where there will be a greater concentration of hunting and trapping," she said.
"We'll be working with hunters and trappers to encourage them to focus their efforts around the marmot colonies . . . . There will be no poisoning or helicopter hunt," she said.
Between 20 and 30 wolves and 15 to 20 cougars are expected to be killed this year in the marmot zones.
It is estimated there are between 150 and 250 wolves on Vancouver Island, down from 350 to 500 in the 1980s. The cougar population is believed to be between 300 and 400, down from 700 to 800 in the mid 1990s.
There are about 90 Island marmots, of which about 30 are living in the wild. The rest are in a captive breeding program.
The cuddly-looking, chocolate-brown marmots, which grow to the size of a large house cat, live in two mountain colonies on central Vancouver Island.
This year there are plans to reintroduce some of the captive- bred marmots into the wild.
But Doug Janz of the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation has told the ministry a predator kill is essential because some wolves and cougars have developed a taste for marmot.
Predation is the major problem faced by the struggling marmot colonies, Murray said.
"We have an absolute responsibility to prevent the extinction of the marmots," she said.
"This is a good program where we can focus predator management on this area and reduce some of the (wolf) packs working around the marmot colonies."
The program will be assessed at the end of the year to see if it should continue, Murray said.
In the meantime, university researchers will be asked to look at non-lethal predator control strategies for the long term.
Ideas which need further study include fences with flagging, also sterilization and relocation, Murray said.
Chris Genovali, executive director of the Raincoast Conservation Society, said it is outrageous that Murray should choose to have predators killed when evidence supporting a cull is flimsy at best and there is little information about the Island's wolf and cougar populations.
"I think it is appalling that she has made this decision without even looking at our information. She is relying on recommendations from a ministry which is virulently anti-predator," Genovali said.
Last December, Murray turned down ministry recommendations for a cull of 30 per cent of the Island's wolves and cougars.
Staff recommended a cull to increase the dropping population of black-tailed deer.
Minister approves wolf, cougar kill to protect Island marmot
Hunters and trappers would be encouraged to cull predators near marmot colonies
By: Judith Lavoie
Victoria Times Colonist
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=9de30b2c-9fdf-44af-b9c7-47cdab6c77b5
Vancouver Island wolves and cougars will be killed in an effort to save the endangered Vancouver Island marmot.
Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Joyce Murray said Monday she has approved staff recommendations to focus regular hunting and trapping of wolves and cougars in buffer zones around two marmot colonies.
"It will affect about five per cent of Vancouver Island where there will be a greater concentration of hunting and trapping," she said.
"We'll be working with hunters and trappers to encourage them to focus their efforts around the marmot colonies . . . . There will be no poisoning or helicopter hunt," she said.
Between 20 and 30 wolves and 15 to 20 cougars are expected to be killed this year in the marmot zones.
It is estimated there are between 150 and 250 wolves on Vancouver Island, down from 350 to 500 in the 1980s. The cougar population is believed to be between 300 and 400, down from 700 to 800 in the mid 1990s.
There are about 90 Island marmots, of which about 30 are living in the wild. The rest are in a captive breeding program.
The cuddly-looking, chocolate-brown marmots, which grow to the size of a large house cat, live in two mountain colonies on central Vancouver Island.
This year there are plans to reintroduce some of the captive- bred marmots into the wild.
But Doug Janz of the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation has told the ministry a predator kill is essential because some wolves and cougars have developed a taste for marmot.
Predation is the major problem faced by the struggling marmot colonies, Murray said.
"We have an absolute responsibility to prevent the extinction of the marmots," she said.
"This is a good program where we can focus predator management on this area and reduce some of the (wolf) packs working around the marmot colonies."
The program will be assessed at the end of the year to see if it should continue, Murray said.
In the meantime, university researchers will be asked to look at non-lethal predator control strategies for the long term.
Ideas which need further study include fences with flagging, also sterilization and relocation, Murray said.
Chris Genovali, executive director of the Raincoast Conservation Society, said it is outrageous that Murray should choose to have predators killed when evidence supporting a cull is flimsy at best and there is little information about the Island's wolf and cougar populations.
"I think it is appalling that she has made this decision without even looking at our information. She is relying on recommendations from a ministry which is virulently anti-predator," Genovali said.
Last December, Murray turned down ministry recommendations for a cull of 30 per cent of the Island's wolves and cougars.
Staff recommended a cull to increase the dropping population of black-tailed deer.
