Wolf cull in the works
Bathurst caribou-hunt ban proposed to continue until 2019
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, February 26, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Continuing the caribou hunting ban and beginning a wolf cull are the bullet points coming from a joint management plan submitted to the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board.
A management plan for caribou put forth by the territorial and Tlicho governments proposes a wolf cull which would offer financial incentives to hunters for killing the animals. The plan was hashed out over two days this week and heard from a variety of those who may be affected by such a plan. - NNSL file photo |
During a public hearing held at Northern United Place this week, members of the Tlicho Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources hashed out their plan to hold off on hunting Bathurst caribou until 2019 and to set up mobile wolf-hunting camps to protect the herd said to have shrunk to between 16,000 and 22,000, down from 470,000 in 1986.
In 2010, restrictions on the hunt meant the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) and the Tlicho government had to split 300 bulls between them. Last year, further restrictions cut that number to 15 bulls for ceremonial purposes and required the YKDFN and the Tlicho to share them with the North Slave Metis Alliance.
The joint-plan proposes cutting the number of animals taken to zero until 2019, after the territory carries out another caribou count in 2018. The Yellowknives' regulatory and research specialist who attended the hearing as an intervenor on behalf of the First Nation, said continued restrictions on caribou hunting will mean subsistence hunters will go hungry.
"Harvesting restrictions are a fairly blunt instrument, because for every restriction on harvesting, there's a restriction on food on people's plates and the ability to engage in traditional activities and traditional lifestyle," said Alex Power. "The discussion of the last two days has really centered around wildlife and I think that's understandable. However, we can't separate management actions from the
consequences."
Power said Yellowknives Dene already engage in predator control and have for generations. The management plan calls for the initial killing of between 50 and 100 wolves.
"What YKDFN is concerned about here is that errors of the past aren't repeated, like poorly-executed poisoning programs," Power said. "I look forward to ENR's feasibility study to see what options are on the table using science and traditional knowledge to make this possible."
Asked for specifics on the wolf cull from the territorial government's perspective, Judy McLinton, spokesperson for ENR, stated in an e-mail she cannot comment on the caribou management actions proposed for the Bathurst herd until after the board releases its recommendations' report.
"It could be prejudicial to the public hearing board process," she stated.
Tlicho lands protection manager Sjoerd Van Der Wielen said the band plans to train around eight hunters to kill and handle wolf meat and pelts. The proposed actions in the joint-submission include wolf-harvest incentives, which amount to a $200 reward given to harvesters upon presenting an intact wolf carcass to any ENR office throughout the territory; a $450 payday for hunters presenting a wolf pelt prepared to traditional standards; and $800 for a "good quality, prime, well-handled and properly prepared wolf pelt," including a processed skull.
Madelaine Pasquayak from Gameti said her father once told her how he nearly ate poisoned-caribou meat meant for wolves, which he found while tending to a trapline. Pasquayak said government workers dropped the poisoned meat in hopes of killing wolves but killed her father's sled dogs instead.
"All of a sudden the lead dog started making this strange noise," she said, adding the dog seemed to freeze solid where it stood before it died.
"My dad could have died," she said.
Pasquayak said if banning caribou harvesting will help the herd rebound, she's all for it. She said she prefers caribou to store-bought protein but said she is willing to forgo the pleasure.
"I've learned that I can go without," she said.
Power said going without will cause problems for elders and hunters who depend on caribou to put food on the table. He said the GNWT has sent some reindeer meat to the First Nation but said they aren't entirely satisfied.
"Two weeks ago, they bought 14 reindeer from Inuvik from a farm. And of course the YKDFN appreciates this. However, I think that understates the scale of food security," said Power. "We have 1,500 members, approximately. And among them we have elders and land users who are not meaningfully engaged in the wage economy."
It couldn't be determined by press time when the board will release its report.
