As we consistently see in the USA, state Game Commissions often guess at the size of their carnivore populations, using "fancy math logarithms" based on pie-in-the-sky assumptions to forge "official population estimates".........The same type faulty math is at play in British Columbia, Canada with Officials pegging their Wolf population at 8500, knowing full well there might be only 5000 Lobos running free.................White and First Nation hunters are not required to register their kills with the Provincial Government so the so-called official kill of 1400 wolves in 2010 is open to huge speculation by concerned biologists in the region..............If there are only 5300 Wolves in B.C., then the 1400 kills represents an onerous and non sustainable 26% kill..................And it is likely that many more "unreported" kills took place suggesting a range of 26 to 50% kill rate.........So when you read that the B.C. first listed management goal for wolves is sustainability, one can only say "WHO IS KIDDING WHO?"

Wolf populations and kill levels poorly understood
 in B.C., says provincial management plan

Wolf populations and kill

 levels poorly understood 

in B.C., says provincial 

management plan

BY LARRY PYNN, VANCOUVER SUN APRIL 17, 2014

• STORY
• PHOTOS ( 2 )

The B.C. government has a poor handle 

on the population of 

grey wolves and whether they are being

 killed at a sustainable 

rate, according to a wolf-management

 plan released Thursday

 by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and 

Natural Resource Operations.

The B.C. government has a poor handle
 on the population of grey wolves and
 whether they are being killed at a
sustainable rate, according to a
wolf-management plan released
Thursday by the Ministry of Forests
, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.

The province’s “best estimate” is there
 are 8,500 wolves in B.C., but concedes
 the true number could range as low as
5,300 or as high as 11,600. Densities
are lowest in the Lower Mainland,
Thompson, and Vancouver Island
 regions and highest in the Peace,
Omineca, and Skeena regions.

The plan further states there is
“considerable uncertainty in the
 current take of wolves by resident
 hunters and trappers as B.C. does
not have a mandatory reporting system”
 and that actual kills could be
 “substantially higher” than estimated.
 Aboriginals also are not required to
 report wolf kills.

“Without more reliable estimates of
the harvest, it is difficult to assess
 the sustainability of B.C.’s wolf
harvest,” the plan says. “Improved
 monitoring on the take of wolves,
combined with an assessment of
the impact of this take on wolf
 populations, will likely be required....”

The report estimates close to 1,400
 wolves were killed in 2010 by hunters,
 trappers, and through predator control.

Despite that admission, the plan says
that wolves overall are not threatened
 in B.C., noting the species’ natural
 resilience, adaptability, and expanding
population. “There is currently no
evidence that there are significant
 conservation concerns for wolves in B.C.”

The management plan states four goals:

• to ensure a self-sustaining population
 throughout the species’ range that fulfills
 the wolf’s role as a top predator.

• to provide opportunities for economic,
cultural, and recreational uses of wolves.

• to minimize impacts on livestock caused
 by wolves in a manner that does not
jeopardize conservation objectives.

• to manage specific packs or individuals
 where predation is likely preventing the
 recovery of wildlife populations
 threatened by wolf predation.

lpynn@vancouversun.com