news: conservation news
Culling
Wildlife in
Alberta’s
Elk Island
National
Park?
L
by Kevin Wilson
egalized hunting in one of Canada’s
most prized National Parks? Hard
to believe, but Parks Canada is
considering a population cull, or
‘hunt’, in Alberta’s Elk Island National Park.
One of western Canada’s biggest success
stories, Elk Island is rich in biodiversity.
Perhaps best known for its thriving elk,
bison, and moose populations, in an
unprecedented move, resource managers
are publicly considering ways to curtail those
numbers. With a long list of stakeholders
and the overall health of the National Park
and public interest at the forefront, decision-
makers will face some tough decisions in
coming months.
Established in 1906, Elk Island National
Park has a proud history. With western
elk numbers nearing extinction, a group
of conservation-minded hunters had the
foresight to protect the last 17 elk known
to exist prior to establishment of the park.
Naturally occurring in the region, it wasn’t
long before the area was fenced and it gained
National Park status. For well over a century,
elk populations have thrived within the park.
According to Bruce Chisholm, current
Chair of the Wild Elk Federation Canada,
“Elk Island is world renowned as the gold
standard that scientists use for transplanting
ungulates due to its strong genetics and
disease-free status. The proposed cull
is disconcerting to say the least. The
problem with culling this herd relates to
an extraordinary change in mandate, no
doubt due to a shift in fiscal priorities. It
is my professional opinion that the park
must be managed for its entire ecosystem
– not just a few larger species. I can’t see
any justifiable reason for this one. The only
logical explanation is that there must be
other agendas at play.”
According to park managers, they have
about 140 surplus bison, 250 extra elk, and
120 more moose (in the southern region of
the park) than they would like. Chisholm,
who also worked for 40 years as an animal
health inspector for the federal government,
played an active role in testing for disease,
conducting environmental impact studies,
and assessing overall health of the ungulate
herds within Elk Island National Park. He
questions the wisdom in this move saying,
“at one time the elk population in the park
was as high as 1,700. I’m struggling to
understand their rationale. At present, there
is an estimated population of 600. If they
choose to lower large ungulate numbers,
forest succession will change the landscape
in ways that will irreversibly imbalance the
park’s ecosystem.”
Elk Island National Park spokesperson
Robyn O’Neill, is on record stating that,
“there’s overbrowsing happening to our
rangeland into our forest … and, the animals
are eating a lot of the environment, they’re
eating all the trees and more than the land
can sustain.”
Either I’m missing something, or this
simply doesn’t add up, given that the
population is a mere fraction of what it once
was. Unfortunately, mainstream media
has reported this as a means to controlling
the park’s “booming” wildlife population,
which is clearly contradictory to historical
and current population counts. Statistically
speaking, the current elk population has
been described by at least one biologist
as being at an all-time low compared to
population counts in the 1930’s.
With its long-standing reputation for
growing ungulate numbers and feeding
transplant
efforts,
an
unfortunate
circumstance appears to be presenting
an awkward dilemma for park managers.
Because Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has
been identified within a 100-kilometre radius
of Elk Island’s herd, current restrictions
prohibit export to certain sites in the United
States. Along with these U.S. imposed
restrictions comes ambiguity around the
rationale, leaving many questioning whether
Parks Canada is justifying this as a political
decision versus one based on risk evaluation
or science. Park authorities say that bison
can be relocated, but the elk would have to
either be hunted and processed at a slaughter
house, or released from the fenced off park.
At an ‘open house’ event held in June
of this year, many different stakeholders
were in attendance. Animal rights activists,
First Nations, game ranchers, biologists,
conservation agencies, hunters, and curious
members of the general public flocked to
the meeting held in Edmonton. It came as
no surprise when animal rights activists
immediately jumped on the ‘anti’ bandwagon
to fight against the controlled harvest of
game for consumption. Interestingly, some
hunters in attendance were in support of
a controlled hunt, however the majority
cautioned authorities to look at this issue
very carefully - urging them to first consider
the best interests of the herd and overall
value and health of this unique biome. First
Nations representatives enthusiastically
encouraged decision-makers to invite
them in, claiming that those were their
traditional hunting grounds. All other
opinions fell somewhere in between. Many
wildlife managers question how our federal
government could consider slaughtering a
significant percentage of Canada’s highly
successful nursery herd.
When asked if the introduction of more
predators is an option, Superintendent
Dale Kirkland opposed the idea saying, “we
simply don’t have the ability to contain, for
example, a wolf pack within the park and we
need to be very mindful and respectful of our
neighbouring agricultural friends as well.”
Resource managers and academics are
cautioning Parks Canada not