'There is a lot of tension': why efforts to monitor Ontario wolves face opposition

Thomas D'Arcy McGee

Thomas D'Arcy McGee

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Weight: ~20 - 35 kg (44 - 77 lbs); Males are typically heavier than the females
Pelage: Varies from reddish-brown to seal grey
Litter Size: 2-7 pups
Age at Disperal: earlier than Grey Wolves. Earliest dispersal documented at 15 weeks
Pack Size: 2 – 9
Average Territory Size: ~190 km2

'There is a lot of tension': why efforts to monitor Ontario wolves face opposition

CBC

Friday February 02, 2018

Ontario Eastern wolves

Eastern wolves are elusive creatures that roam the forests of Quebec and Ontario. In 2016 the Government of Ontario changed the status of these wolves - known as Algonquin wolves in that province - from 'special concern' to 'threatened'. The Ontario government only has until June of this year to come up with a recovery plan for the animal. Wolf researcher and activist Hannah Barron works for the Eastern Wolf Survey. She is currently busy gathering data about this population to help forge a plan for their protection. Documentary producer Andrew Budziak went out with Barron and her team of citizen scientists to collect wolf feces, known as 'scat.'

The problem

One of the big problems is that these wolves are still being legally hunted and trapped for a couple of reasons. There is a commercial industry as well as the fact that these wolves are a threat to livestock. But some hunters and trappers believe this population are not true wolves and do not have a distinct lineage, that they are big mixed-breed coyotes that have been around for a long time and do not deserve special status. They base this information on a recent Princeton University study that even found dog DNA among the population. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources thinks differently.

The solution

There is a lot of tension right now between conservationists and hunters and trappers, so a solution may be difficult to achieve. The Ontario government must find a balance between the science gathered by continuous monitoring of the population, and the needs of hunters, trappers and farmers whose livelihoods are also threatened.

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Rutledge, L., The Eastern Wolf: What we do and do not know..., Wolf Steward (April 2010)
 
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Thiel, R. P. & Wydeven, A. P. (2012). Eastern Wolf (Canis lycaon) Status Assessment Report: Covering East-Central North America, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Page 80​

Summary / Recommendations

1. A genetically and morphologically unique large Canis species occupied much of eastcentral
North America during the final stages of the Pleistocene up to present times. Its
present range is restricted to a swath of east-central Ontario and southwestern Quebec in
Canada. Scientists are increasingly referring to this canid as the eastern wolf, Canis
lycaon.

2. Recent carcass recoveries reveal that individual eastern wolves are at least occasionally
present in the Northeastern United States, but there is no evidence that any breeding
occurs at the present time.

3. Wolves in the Western Great Lakes states lie within a naturally occurring suture zone
where gray wolf and eastern wolf populations collided during and following the retreat of
the continental glaciers. The wolf population in this geographic region is taxonomically
distinct, an admixture of Canis lupus X Canis lycaon. It displays genetic continuity and is
representative of the gene pool present prior to anthropogenic influences. There is good
agreement that wolf populations in this region have since functionally and numerically
recovered.

4. Geneticists, especially, use peer-reviewed scientific journals to advance their position
that this unique wolf type, labeled the eastern wolf, Canis lycaon, is a distinct species.
This posture is presently subject to robust and healthy scientific debate. The fact remains
these large canids presently lack official designation as a species. We encourage those
who promote eastern wolves as a distinct species petition an international authority such
as the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, the American Society of
Mammalogists, etc., to resolve this issue so that conservation efforts may proceed.
 
The Ministry has told the Ontario Fur Managers Federation that their input is not required because they have proven MOST coyotes in Ontario southern or northern have wolf and dog genes. Long and short the Ministry is using flawed science to placate a few tree hugging citiots and to make the bones of one biologist in Peterborough.

End game is to shut down hunting/trapping of coyotes and wolves in the province. Like the shut down of the bear hunt it will result in the 3S rule for those that can and the citiots will just have to go to the education programs to learn to live with the coyotes in town LMAOROF. When the 60 or so a year we shoot are left to breed around the local towns I can hardly wait to hear the complaints. We ran 9 out of a 3 acre block yesterday, biggest male weighed 53lbs(pure coyote genes YA RIGHT), and not uncommon but they are a scarce wolf hybrid and need protection
 
hunter148 said:
The Ministry has told the Ontario Fur Managers Federation that their input is not required because they have proven MOST coyotes in Ontario southern or northern have wolf and dog genes.
Click to expand...

The Ministry's DRAFT Report acknowledges several of the people named below provided their time to review a draft and provide verbal comments:

Howard Noseworthy Fur Harvesters Auction Inc.
Pierre Canac Marquis Fur Institute Canada
Dawn Succee Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
Mark Ryckman Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
Carmen Cotnoir Ontario Fur Managers Federation
Ray Gall Ontario Fur Managers Federation
Robin Horwath Ontario Fur Managers Federation
 
hunter148 said:
End game is to shut down hunting/trapping of coyotes and wolves in the province. Like the shut down of the bear hunt it will result in the 3S rule for those that can and the citiots will just have to go to the education programs to learn to live with the coyotes in town LMAOROF. When the 60 or so a year we shoot are left to breed around the local towns I can hardly wait to hear the complaints. We ran 9 out of a 3 acre block yesterday, biggest male weighed 53lbs(pure coyote genes YA RIGHT), and not uncommon but they are a scarce wolf hybrid and need protection
Click to expand...

Then we'll start charging to remove them. :) We've heard complaints of coyotes in town near where we hunt this year. They have no idea what things would be if we weren't around.
 
Thomas D'Arcy McGee said:
The Ministry's DRAFT Report acknowledges several of the people named below provided their time to review a draft and provide verbal comments:

Howard Noseworthy Fur Harvesters Auction Inc.
Pierre Canac Marquis Fur Institute Canada
Dawn Succee Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
Mark Ryckman Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
Carmen Cotnoir Ontario Fur Managers Federation
Ray Gall Ontario Fur Managers Federation
Robin Horwath Ontario Fur Managers Federation
Click to expand...

Not a single name quoted agrees with a word of the study, but citizen scientists and the MNR biologist that doesn't leave their office know best. I guess boots on the desk know better than the boots on the ground. Hope the koolaid tastes great.
 
Rationale for Exemption to Public Comment:

As recovery strategies prepared under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 represent advice to government, they are exempt from the requirement to be posted on the Environmental Registry for public comment. However, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is requesting public input to ensure the best available information is considered in the development of recovery strategies. MNRF is seeking scientific information, including information obtained from traditional ecological knowledge, which can be considered when finalizing the recovery strategy for this species.


Description:

The public and Indigenous communities are invited to provide comments on the draft recovery strategy for Algonquin Wolf to ensure that it is based on the best available scientific information, including traditional ecological knowledge.

Please provide information by February 14, 2018. This may include information related to the biology and distribution of a species, its habitat, threats, and/or approaches for protection and recovery. The draft strategy is available at the link provided below.

Comments provided will be considered by the recovery strategy authors, along with all other available information, to develop the final recovery strategy. Once a final recovery strategy is received by MNRF, it will be published on Ontario’s species at risk website concurrently with a proposal on the Environmental Registry. The proposal will solicit input to be considered in the development of a government response statement.

Opportunities to comment on the potential impacts of implementing protection or recovery approaches, as well as areas for consideration in habitat protection, will be provided during the development of the government response statement.

Contact:

SAR Recovery Section Species Conservation Policy Branch
PUBLIC INPUT COORDINATION
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Policy Division
Species Conservation Policy Branch
Species at Risk Recovery Section
300 Water Street
Peterborough Ontario
K9J 8M5
Phone: (705) 755-1963
Fax: (705) 755-2901

PUBLIC COMMENT CLOSES FEB 14TH

[h=2]Other Information:[/h] Information on Algonquin Wolf can be submitted:

By email at recovery.planning@ontario.ca
By fax at 705-755-2901

By mail at:
Species at Risk Recovery Section
Species Conservation Policy Branch
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
300 Water Street, 5N
Peterborough, ON K9J 8M5
 
Thomas D'Arcy McGee said:
They will eat your neighbours cats and small dogs too :d
Click to expand...

In our neighborhood,there's lots of green spaces and a subdivision surrounded by farmland that are home to a few dozen of them. Some folks have had their little dogs killed and eaten right in front of them while taking them for a walk after supper. What we hear from town council (Liberals) and our MPP (Liberal) when people complain is crickets. That tells me it's a "Liberal" thing.
 
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