The B.C. government has a poor handle on the population of grey wolves and whether they are being killed at a sustainable rate, according to a wolf-management plan released Thursday by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.
The province’s “best estimate” is there are 8,500 wolves in B.C., but concedes the true number could range as low as 5,300 or as high as 11,600. Densities are lowest in the Lower Mainland, Thompson, and Vancouver Island regions and highest in the Peace, Omineca, and Skeena regions.
The plan further states there is “considerable uncertainty in the current take of wolves by resident hunters and trappers as B.C. does not have a mandatory reporting system” and that actual kills could be “substantially higher” than estimated. Aboriginals also are not required to report wolf kills. “Without more reliable estimates of the harvest, it is difficult to assess the sustainability of B.C.’s wolf harvest,” the plan says. “Improved monitoring on the take of wolves, combined with an assessment of the impact of this take on wolf populations, will likely be required....”
The report estimates close to 1,400 wolves were killed in 2010 by hunters, trappers, and through predator control.
Despite that admission, the plan says that wolves overall are not threatened in B.C., noting the species’ natural resilience, adaptability, and expanding population. “There is currently no evidence that there are significant conservation concerns for wolves in B.C.”
The management plan states four goals:
• to ensure a self-sustaining population throughout the species’ range that fulfills the wolf’s role as a top predator.
• to provide opportunities for economic, cultural, and recreational uses of wolves.
• to minimize impacts on livestock caused by wolves in a manner that does not jeopardize conservation objectives.
• to manage specific packs or individuals where predation is likely preventing the recovery of wildlife populations threatened by wolf predation.
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