Since 2015, the BC government has been hunting down and killing wolves throughout the province as a measure to save the dwindling woodland caribou population.
However, advocates from Pacific Wild, a non-profit organization aimed at protecting BC’s complex ecosystems, say that the government is using these wolves as a scapegoat.
Pacific Wild asserts that really, the issue is logging and resource extraction which has been reducing the caribous’ access to lichen and other food sources they rely upon.
According to the organization, over 2,500 wolves have been killed needlessly since the beginning of this cull, just 10 years ago.
Natasha Wehn, a project director at Pacific Wild, says that in her experience, many people in BC don’t know about the ongoing wolf cull. She says if they did know about it, she believes they would want to see it come to an end.
“Wolves and caribou have coexisted for millennia in BC,” Wehn told Victoria Buzz.
“Since 2015, we’ve tried a number of different approaches to raise awareness because actually, many people in BC still don’t know that there is even a wolf cull—that hundreds of wolves are shot each year.”
To raise awareness of the wolf cull, Pacific Wild collaborated with ad agency One23West, who has experience in guerilla marketing tactics. They came up with the idea to set up a pop-up souvenir shop in downtown Victoria.
The pop-up seeks to challenge the ‘Beautiful British Columbia’ slogan of the Province, by calling this endeavour, ‘Welcome to Brutal British Columbia.’
Wehn pointed out that this endeavour felt especially important to do during peak tourist season, as in 2023, tourism contributed to BC’s GDP more than all resource extraction, including logging, energy, LNG, coal and more.
Since 2015, Pacific Wild says that the BC government has spent $11.5 million spent on the wolf cull, and has given $3.65 billion in resource extraction subsidies to companies who destroy ecosystems like the caribous’.
“Their habitat continues to be destroyed—the government continues to approve logging, oil and gas and mining in critical caribou habitats,” said Wehn.
“Caribou habitat continues to be destroyed, so we are calling for an end to this smokescreen. It’s not the wolves that are cutting down the trees, the caribou need the lichen-rich old-growth to survive and killing wolves won’t bring caribou populations back, is the habitat.
The Welcome to Brutal British Columbia pop-up shop will be located at the Eagle Feather Gallery, at 633 Courtney Street. The shop will be open from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. selling wares they made to help spread the word about the cull and raising awareness about the issue.
Wehn says she hopes the souvenir shop will allow her team to inform as many people as possible about this, and even inspire them to try to take action on it.
“We’re hoping this will spark conversations. You’ll see it, you’ll talk to your friend about it, etc,” explained Wehn.
Furthermore, Pacific Wild will be handing out pre-addressed post cards to be sent to Premier David Eby, calling on him to end the cull.
Wehn added that this souvenir shop is just the iceberg with the next push in advocacy that Pacific Wild has planned. She says they have an action planned on International Wolf Day, which lands on August 13th, and they have more planned for later on this month.
Pacific Wild has fought for greater wildlife and environmental protections from the government for many years and this pop-up is just the latest initiative to achieve an end to the wolf cull.
They have been successful in their advocacy through the years and know how to make a difference. One example of this was when they were a huge part of ending grizzly bear trophy hunting in BC.
Other causes they are currently advocating for are: saving BC bears, ending trawling, protecting Pacific herring, ending fish farming, and other marine protection projects.
If any of these causes resonate, more can be found on how to help, donate and/or volunteer via Pacific Wild’s website.
Their website also has a myriad of resources to learn more about how to help protect BC’s natural beauty.
“There was a recent poll actually… It was Canada-wide and showed that for sources of ‘national identity and attachment,’ nature was at the top of the list,” said Wehn.
“It’s above the flag, it’s above hockey, so it’s really important to us and I think we have to start valuing it more. Especially compounded with the fact that we’re in a climate crisis, there’s all this uncertainty in the world in politics, but we can’t forget the importance of an intact natural ecosystem.”
