Using poison to cull wolves in Alberta is inhumane, says animal advocacy group

A conservationgroup says the province's use of poison as a way to cull wolves is inhumane and kills too many other animals inadvertently.

Numbers obtained by Wolf Awareness Inc. through the Freedom of Information Act showabout 1,200 wolves have been culled sincethe population control program began in 2005.

About 250 other animals have also been accidentally poisoned, according to the Alberta government.

Most of those are ravensbut the list includes among other creatures a bald eagle,a golden eagle, coyotes, foxes, skunks, lynx and a grizzly bear, which is listed as a threatened species under Alberta's Wildlife Act.

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That death tally doesn't include the baitanimals. An animal such as a moose or deer is shot,then the carcass is poisoned, said veterinarian Judith Sampson-French, a former conservation biologist with Alberta Fish and Wildlife.

Animals besides wolves feed on the carcass and are subsequently killed too, which Wolf Awareness Inc. calls unethical and inhumane.

"Some people are calling it a grand-scaled wildlife genocide because it's very non-targeted," said Sampson-French.

"The whole ecosystem is starting to break down because we're getting way beyond ravens dying here, we're getting caribou, we're getting grizzly bears, eagles, cougars, all of those animals."

JuditSmits,a veterinarian with a PhD in environmental toxicology, saidthe use of strychnine as a poison is especially troubling.

"We've been really discouraging the use of strychnine for predator control a long time because we are really aware of how totally inhumane it is," she said.

"It takes a long time to die. The animals are completely lucid throughout the whole poisoning episode," she said.

"They can hear everything, the can see everything, they can feel everything."

Strychninecauses the animal's muscles to contract, said Smits, including the diaphragm, which eventually suffocates them.

The province also uses firearms andpoison to kill the wolves.

One reason for the wolf cull is to protect caribou herds, which are listed as at risk in Alberta.

Dave Hervieux, the province's expert on caribou preservation, said while the situation isn't ideal, it's about balancing the options they have in front of them.

"It is a complicated issue, obviously," he said.

Another industry thatcan adversely affect caribou habitatis resourceextraction, which he pointed out is a sanctioned activitythroughout caribou ranges.

"It's trying to find a balance that will adequately enable those economic activities, but also have real and tangible benefits for caribou into the future."

Hervieux saidcaribou populations have not risen or fallen significantly since the wolf cull began.

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