Dangers for wolves of Quebec

Wolves leave no one indifferent and never fail to ignite human passions. Once marginally protected, now over-hunted - such is the sad reality of wolves. Wolves everywhere pay a high price for living near humans. As the government resolutely encourages the hunting and trapping of wolves, more and more people are defending their cause. Wolves thus spur many contradictory actions. While some still see them for their skin, others fight for their survival and protection.

In Quebec, little land remains where wolves are safe from trapping. Indeed, wolf trapping is allowed on 98% of the province, or nearly 1,500,000 km2. South of the 52nd parallel, the government owns a network of 20 provincial parks where trapping is prohibited. These parks cover 5,800 km2. In this network, wolves are likely to live in only seven parks with a total area of approximately 3,400 km2. Quebec also includes three federal parks where trapping is prohibited. Their combined area is 874 km2, and only Mauricie Park, with a total of 536 km2, is likely to be inhabited by wolves.

Because of their dual status as fur bearing and game animals, wolves in Quebec can be trapped and hunted without restriction during sixteen to twenty consecutive weeks each year. There is no wolf-bagging limit for the four months wolves can be trapped (October to March) and the five months they can be hunted (October to April). Snares, leghold traps, rifles, shotguns, black powder firearms, bows, and crossbows are legal, government-authorized methods for killing wolves.

In Quebec, wolves are caught using leghold traps and snares. The latter method remains the most popular way to kill wolves. According to a poll conducted by Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Faune (MEF), over 80% of the wolves bagged in 1993-1994 were caught by snares. This efficient method has rapidly turned wolves into easy prey.

Snaring is usually combined with the enclosure technique aimed at luring a pack to a single site even before trapping season begins. This technique can eliminate the dominant pair in just hours and decimate the entire pack. Since only the dominant pair reproduces, the pack's reproductive success is compromised, with disastrous effects on its social structure. Trappers are supposed to visit their traplines daily but rarely do, as they are not legally required to do so. Wolves that are caught may thus die of thirst, hunger, or cold. In some areas of Quebec where wolves were once common, they are now rare, particularly due to high mortality resulting from the repeated use of enclosures.

Established by the Government of Quebec in 1996, Groupe-Faune National (G-FN) is tasked with recommending wildlife management directions to the minister responsible for wildlife. This focus group also suggests changes to the various regulations governing trapping, hunting, and fishing.

G-FN includes the organizations definding their members' private and commercial interests and have real clout with Société de la faune et des parcs du Québec (FAPAQ) and its minister. Unfortunately, consultations on “wildlife interests” in Quebec are held virtually in private between FAPAQ and G-FN. Without transparency and appropriate efforts by the government, this “democratic” process is sure to remain a simple act devoid of meaning, fairness, and justice.

Quebec's wolves now face an additional threat, since the official objective of the 1999 trapping reform is to maximize spinoffs from this commercial activity. Consequently, wolves can be harvested along with eighteen other species that the government still considers as renewable economic resources.

Trapping is unquestionably the main cause of wolf mortality in Quebec. It is thus crucial and urgent that wolves be granted territory that is sufficiently protected from this outdated and backward activity. Without this basic protection, wolves will remain exposed to overexploitation and inevitable extinction.

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