Not crying wolf
Dear Editor,
I feel so strongly about how wolves, or any other species anywhere on God’s green/white earth for that matter, are managed particularly in our beautiful province of Alberta where poisoning is implemented.
It’s a hard-reasonable fact that when Mrs. Mother Nature gets out of balance we humans sometimes need to step in and help her out. But, poisoning is inhumane and dangerous. Not only do the wolves suffer a terrible death, dying from oxygen deprivation, but other animals and birds pay the consequence of this practice.
A very informative article concerning our wolves for the world to view online:
http://nationalpost.com/news/ canada/alberta-continues-wolf-culldespite-mixed-evidence-its-actuallyboosting-the-caribou-population
Hiring a helicopter to have the predators shot is costly and it’s hard to target an animal from a chopper and have it die humanely and quickly or worse yet, have it just wounded and escaping.
Would a higher bounty on the wolves produce a better method of controlling these predators and stimulate more eager hunters? I feel sure many hunters would get out in our lovely province and help mother nature if the price was right. Tax payers always enjoy regaining some of their hard-earned dollars.
Quoting from AWA’s website: “Alberta can boast some of the largest and most handsome of all wolves. They are mostly confined to the Rocky Mountains, foothills, and boreal forest regions. Presentday wolves are estimated to number around 4,000 in Alberta. As top predators, wolves play a valuable role in keeping wild ecosystems healthy.
Wolves are a keystone species within the ecosystems in which they live, yet many Albertans and governing bodies have consistently undervalued them and treated them as pests instead of the amazing creatures they truly are.”
Poisoning, in my humble opinion, shouldn’t be the ghastly method used to help control our wolf population. Our government should be informed if we aren’t happy with such a devastating practice and any other practice, other than good oldfashioned regulated hunting, used for that purpose.
Lynda Geymonat