Would BC have lynx without the presence of snowshoe hare?
Can cougars survive without deer?
Or wolves without moose?
Hardly a day goes by without one of B.C.’s plethora of Environmental Non-Government Organizations (ENGO) publishing another article about predators in peril and then asking for donations to support their efforts in saving our wolves, bears, cougars, or coyotes, all under the guise that these predators are in trouble and need to be saved.
Although when pressed, some will admit that there is no shortage of predators in BC, that is not the message they wish to convey.
Their message is donate, donate, donate.
Support our organization as we need your money to stop all government and public actions that results in the death of a single predator.
They use words like – immoral, unethical, emotionally damaging or lack of social license; all words designed to divorce you from reality.
They do not cite science, nor do they cite statistics as reasons for change.
They cite words which are meant to stir their audience into unwittingly reaching for their wallets and parting with cash; cash to support their jobs of saving our world.
They do not cite volumes of irrefutable evidence that shows for predators to survive, they must eat something, and that something is what we at Hunters for BC - SCI call, prey.
For the most part when we say prey, we refer to ungulates which consists of our moose, deer, elk, caribou, mountain sheep and goats; on our coast for some predators, prey means salmon.
[It’s] frustrating.
The complete lack of truth in their messages is akin and par to those unsolicited telephone scams pitching some scheme designed to empty your bank account.
And, partially responsible for the willing acceptance to donate into these schemes and their cause, are those magic movies we have all watched for decades.
Movies which feature a comedic predator with a name and human abilities, cavorting in the meadow alongside its prey, all the while they discuss how to save themselves from some evil industry or developer.
Movies which never show what predators eat.
We need to have a better and more consistent conversation about wildlife management in B.C.
A conversation that is based on reality, one that values our prey, and one that recognizes we must have a balance between prey, predators and the people of B.C.
And, unfortunately, in our haste to manage to opinion polls and emotions, we have forgot that we need prey, which for many places in B.C. has either already disappeared or is sadly lacking.
In response to our rapidly disappearing prey, we at Hunters for BC – SCI have launched a new program aimed at educating the people of B.C., including our elected offices that “Without Prey, there are no Predators”.
Hunters for BC – SCI is an award-winning wildlife conservation organization in British Columbia.
Our mission is to actively promote, support and advocate for responsible conservation and management of British Columbia’s wildlife and natural resources.
For further questions or information, please contact: Robin Unrau at (250) 864-7645 or email president@bcinteriorsci.ca.
Robin Unrau, President
Hunters for BC SCI