Helicopter usage for cull ‘unethical’ and expensive

I love stormy weather this time of year. The reason is that during the Cape Breton Highlands National Park (CBHNP) moose cull, the helicopter can’t fly in certain weather conditions. That means they can’t be used to spot moose, transport hunters and sling dead moose carcasses out.

In the 2015 CBHNP cull, based on my research helicopters were involved in about 81 per cent of the moose kills. That usage increased to about 88 per cent of the kills in the 2016 moose cull. The typical pursuit time (from harvest summary data) was under six minutes. When a helicopter is used for spotting and transport, this is the time between harvester drop off and time of kill.

At the end of the past culls, we were told that the killing was done in an ethical and respectful manner. With just about six minutes to leave a helicopter and shoot a moose, how can that be considered ethical and respectful?

Moose culls in our CBHNP have more the appearance of a shooting gallery when one looks at the high percentage of helicopter usage. During the 2016 moose cull, in one three-day period with helicopter support, 19 moose were killed. In a two- day period with helicopter support, 12 moose were killed. That’s 31 moose killed in just five days. Helicopters and moose appear to be a lethal combination.

In a news story in July 2017, the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Hunters and Anglers was quoted as saying: “It’s pretty unethical to use a helicopter or a plane or a drone, in this case, to go after wildlife.” The same story noted that the provincial Wildlife Act forbids hunters from using any type of aerial vehicle to hunt or chase wildlife. Yet our national park is able to ignore ethics and extensive helicopter use has become the norm.

In the 2016 pre-harvest survey, more than 30 moose were counted just outside of the park boundary and less than 30 moose were counted in the North Mountain study area. Yet, 50 moose were killed inside the study area, with the post cull survey showing many fewer moose outside of the park.

In her review of a Draft Hyperabundant Moose Management Plan, a Parks Canada Agency member questioned a possible need “... to change approaches to increase capture rate” as population numbers declined. One of the alternative methods mentioned was “Strategic ‘nudging’ (to move animals out of inaccessible areas)?”

Such extensive helicopter use is not only unethical, it is extremely costly to Canadian tax payers. Thus far, two moose culls in the CBHNP have cost, by my calculations, over $775,000 to kill 87 moose. I wonder where the madness will all end.

Rose Courage Sydney