Ethics & British Columbia's Wildlife Management

[Pheroze]

B.C.'s approach to wildlife management needs major ethical reform
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...ldlife-management-needs-major-ethical-reform/

Seems shrill but will any group pick up the gauntlet?

 

[IdaRam]

B.C.'s approach to wildlife management needs major ethical reform
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...ldlife-management-needs-major-ethical-reform/

Seems shrill but will any group pick up the gauntlet?

Aaah yes, ethics. The real question would be, whose ethics? Obviously not the ethics of “consumptive users”.

Excerpts
...sustained exploitation by hunters and trappers...
...wildlife management is one of the few fields for which ethics remain notably absent
For many wildlife species, humans kill more adults than all other predators combined.

 

[Pheroze]

Aaah yes, ethics. The real question would be, whose ethics? Obviously not the ethics of “consumptive users”.

Excerpts
...sustained exploitation by hunters and trappers...
...wildlife management is one of the few fields for which ethics remain notably absent
For many wildlife species, humans kill more adults than all other predators combined.

A national newspaper in Canada has given our esteemed hunting organizations an opportunity to talk ethics and science. I am waiting to see if they will rise to the opportunity. Or will they allow this slanderous drivel to be the final word?

 

[Pheroze]

I just sent this letter to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. I strongly encourage all North American hunters to do the same to their organizations:

Good morning

The Globe and Mail has published an opinion piece that slanders hunters and trappers. It also misrepresents the system of conservation.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...ldlife-management-needs-major-ethical-reform/

This article concerns BC but it has a wider impact. We are just recovering from the 1995 bear hunt debacle here in Ontario, and this is just a continuation of that lobbying. If we dont address this from all provinces then we will fall as a divided group. This is a great opportunity for the various hunting organizations to discuss science and ethics as a unified front. Will OFAH be addressing this?

@Conservation Force

 

[Hogpatrol]

SCI, where are you?

 

[Shootist43]

Perhaps the lessons learned from similar Wildlife Management Techniques (read experiments) over 100 years ago on the Kiabab Plateau need to be brought back into focus. Banning all forms of hunting resulted in over population then mass starvation of the animals of the animals intended to be protected.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Aaah yes, ethics. The real question would be, whose ethics? Obviously not the ethics of “consumptive users”.

Excerpts
...sustained exploitation by hunters and trappers...
...wildlife management is one of the few fields for which ethics remain notably absent
For many wildlife species, humans kill more adults than all other predators combined.

I noted those same buzz lines and others.
When I hit the line about "Grizzly hunting being ethically questionable" I stopped reading and closed the page.

Drivel with a pretense of scientific review.

 

[Pheroze]

I noted those same buzz lines and others.
When I hit the line about "Grizzly hunting being ethically questionable" I stopped reading and closed the page.

Drivel with a pretense of scientific review.

But we really cant ignore it. The various hunting associations have to respond. Or, this drivel becomes public policy

 

[BRICKBURN]

But we really cant ignore it. The various hunting associations have to respond. Or, this drivel becomes public policy

I agree that the associations should take up the invitation to provide some actual science and help educate the masses.

 

[tigris115]

I also think we should try to get the First Nation Peoples on our side as most of them seem to be pretty heavily set against bear trophy hunting.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I also think we should try to get the First Nation Peoples on our side as most of them seem to be pretty heavily set against bear trophy hunting.

Another vocal minority within a minority. No one I have encountered in the community opposes hunting.

 

[tigris115]

Well then this article lied to me
https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-01...has-flourishing-grizzly-bear-tourism-industry
Maybe it's only certain tribes that are against it or leaders that try to feed the one with nature stereotype

 

[BRICKBURN]

So a chief that has a ecotourism business is against his competitors operating.
Zero to do with ethnicity.
They "used to hunt' Grizzly for food but now they decided to do ecotourism. Congrats to them. They made a personal choice on what business to run and what to eat.
What does their personal choice have to do with effective wildlife management policy?
The professional managers will have to take into account the impact of those businesses on the ecosystem.

ie. Whale watching (non consumptive use) has a huge deleterious effect on Orca. Crowding, noise, Stress, pollution, etc.
NON CONSUMPTIVE does not equate to NO IMPACT.

So, IMHO this is just one more user with an opinion.

 

[Ragman]

I just spent four days out in the Kimberley, B.C. area visiting an old friend. This is an area of B.C. with lots of locals who enjoy to hunt and my buddy is one of them and a lot of his friends are as well. When I first started going out there 10 years ago, there was a very healthy elk population. Hunting them was still quite a challenge though as in that area there is a 6-point (on at least one antler) rule on bull elk and a 4-point rule (not including brow tines) on mule deer bucks. We were talking hunting quite a lot of course and all of them agreed that with the increase of wolves and both black and grizzly bears in the area, the elk and deer are headed in the other direction and all are concerned. And with government policies based on public opinion, they are right to be.

 

[tigris115]

I still think that pulling the public opinion card on justifying a flat ban is kind of (really) stupid. If it's not a detriment to the welfare/population of the animals, you're just being an ass.