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The old adage ”In like a Lion, out like a Lamb,”refers, of course, to the vagaries of March weather, but this March it’s been “Out with lions,” (mountain lions, or cougars), and also “out with” one unfortunate little lamb.
On March 6th, three cougars (two juveniles and one adult female) were shot and killed by joint operations of the RCMP and the Conservation Office Service after the cougars had killed a lamb on a farm in Courtenay. They were just the first to go.
Most of us who live in British Columbia are aware that we do have a large cougar population, although actual numbers are largely anecdotal and based on guesswork.
Prevailing wisdom seems to support the concept that cougars can be arbitrarily removed from our ecosystem simply because we have ”lots of” them, although they have already disappeared from two thirds of their natural range since European settlement began, due to relentless hunting, trapping, vehicular traffic, loss of prey, natural attrition and habitat loss.
The Eastern cougar was recently formally declared extinct, their genetic diversity and those beautiful animals are gone from our planet forever.
The only distinct cougar population living east of the Mississippi now are the sub species of highly endangered Florida Panther, but the millions of dollars being spent on their protection appears to be far too little, too late.
Closer to home we can consider that there used to be “lots of” cod on the east coast, that there used to be “lots of” spotted owls In our BC Forests, that caribou roamed our land in vast numbers, that there used to be “lots of” southern resident orca in the Salish Sea.
In any case, if the “lots of” argument is valid, then what about this lamb? Are there not “lots of” sheep? Do these introduced species not hugely outnumber cougars in every single country of the world?
Sheep are neither rare nor endangered and there are endless breeds and genetic combinations that would appear to keep their numbers safe forever.
Why then was one lamb considered a sufficient enough loss to justify the killing of three indigenous animals and all of their potential offspring? Who ARE the Conservation Officers supposed to be conserving?
I have no doubt that the lamb was adorable, as lambs tend to be. That he or she would have liked to remain alive, eating the spring grass and playing happily in the fields to a ripe old age. I’m sorry that he/she died a frightening and probably very painful death. I’m sorry that the young animal was left outside in sub zero temperatures without adequate protection from wildlife. But was the loss of one lamb worth the deaths of three cougars?
On March 10th a healthy female cougar was destroyed in Bridge Lake for supposedly killing two neighbouring pet dogs. The CO’s admitted they were not certain they had even killed the right animal, but apparently someone had to pay the price for the dogs and that was the end of her, as well as all of her potential offspring.
On March 17th, a perfectly healthy orphaned cub was killed by the CO’s in Kamloops, who rather curiously declared that the animal would be unable to survive in a sanctuary situation, although multiple wildlife rescues in the States prove exactly the opposite.
The Conservation Office also continues to maintain that adult cougars can not be successfully relocated after they inadvertently wander near human habitation, despite the fact that such relocations are handled successfully and regularly in many other parts of North America .
One has to wonder, then, what the difference could possibly be between these other cougars and ours?
What’s happening, I believe, is that, having hunted and pushed some of their own cougar populations to the brink of no return, the Americans are becoming aware of the resulting fallout. They are now back pedalling rapidly in certain States in an attempt to redress the damage.
Could it be time for us to lose our “lots of them” mentality and take a good hard look at provincial wildlife policies that have not been updated for over twenty years? Quite a lot has changed in BC since that time – more humans, more houses, more logging and mining and more recreational use of once pristine wilderness.
Could we go back in time to the days when non lethal interventions were at least considered? At the present time there is no possibility of relocating or rehabilitating predators in this province, not because they won’t survive the intervention, as popular wisdom has it, but because legislation prevents it. There is absolutely nothing in place for any of these animals that inadvertently wander into human territory except a bullet.
We need to have some much better options available.
Lynn Siron
Lynn lives on Vancouver Island and is a strong advocate for predators in Canada and around the world.
Victoria Animal News
If there were fonts that represented screaming other than capitals I would use it. The whole sale slaughter of our wild life is deplorable! It is a ‘Kill for the Thrill’ mentality and the Parks Board & political hacks don’t want to spend the money to relocate them nor will they insist ‘by introducing a law’ that developers be required to put up wildlife fencing across terrain that butts up against housing developments. Nor will they create programs to ensure people moving into these areas follow conservation regulations and practices. It is the ignorance of humans that causes most of these encounters.
Awhile back a cougar mother and two cubs got trapped in a concrete bay at Horshoebay ferry terminal. Instead of trapping/tranquilizing the mother, they killed them all. They claimed it was too dangerous to try to tranquilize the mother. That was a load of the usual bull. They could not be bothered to take the time and didn’t want to delay any ferries.
Every year the so called Conservation people kill bears on the north shore mountains in the triple digits.
Again, they don’t want to spend the money to put up fences across the upper levels development sprawl or re locate the bears.
Money and mind numbing stupidity dictate
the fate of our wildlife.