"The wolf today is a scapegoat, wrongfully convicted as a ruthless killer by a jury that refuses to accept evidence that this predator is not guilty of crimes committed against the endangered woodland caribou in northwestern Alberta"............ "In fact, studies show that habitat destruction at the hands of man is to blame"........."This unscientific and unethical wolf cull is a consequence of oil and gas development, and industrial logging"........To carry out this genocide(Killing more than 1,000 wolves in the last 10 years in the Little Smoky region of Alberta), Helicopters operating as gunships hover over the packs and the sharpshooters open fire"......... "There’s bait on the ground laced with strychnine"........... "There are snares in the woods"............ "And the most infamous is using what’s called the “Judas wolves"........... "They are live-trapped and fitted with a VHF radio collar that leads shooters who are monitoring the radio signals to the packs"......... "When the Judas wolf completes its duties, it too is shot".........And even with all of these Wolves destroyed, the Caribou decline continues due to human land altering,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"The killing of wolves continues, as if wiping out a second species some how validates the loss of caribou",----------Rick Zemanek; Red Deer Advocate...............If there was an interstellar Court looking in at the atrocities that we humans are committing against our fellow Earth living creatures, I believe that we would all be rounded up and imprisoned.............And we have the audacity to go to our respective Houses of Worship each weekend and smugly call ourselves civilized???????----I THINK NOT!!!----Blogger Rick

Red Deer Advocate - Wolves have become scapegoats* http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/opinion/Wolves_have_become_scapegoats_296926511.html Wolves have become scapegoats By Rick Zemanek - Red Deer Advocate Published: March 19, 2015 1:23 PM Frantically struggling to stay alive, a wolf tries to break  free from the unforgiving stranglehold applied by a  wire snare around its neck. The more it struggles,  the more the deadly noose tightens, eventually cutting  through major arteries atthe upper portion of its  spinal cord.A painful, agonizing death finally brings  it comfort in blood-spattered snow where the corpse  lies. This is notoverstating death by strangulation in  the West Country today, where such snares are  routinely set. The wolf today is a scapegoat, wrongfully convicted as  a ruthless killer by a jury that refuses to accept evidence  that this predator is not guilty of crimes committed  against the endangered woodland caribou in  northwestern Alberta. In fact, studies show that habitat destruction at the  hands of man is to blame. Never mind that bounties of up to $500 per wolf  offered by interest groups can now make this activity quite profitable. Local and international groups protest that the devices  are illegal and inhumane under standards established  by the Canadian Council on Animal Care. Dr. Jose Diaz, professor of veterinary medicine at the  University of Calgary, says death to snared animals “can take hours through an extremely painful and slow process.” He notes he cannot comprehend the  government’s decision “to elicit this kind of suffering  and pain” to a living creature. Wolf Murder Canadian Style Continues As If It’s  Conservation reads a recent headline in Psychology Today. In the article, Chris Genovali, executive director of B.C.’s Raincoast Conservation Foundation,  shoots holes in the contention that the massive wolf  kills will save the caribou. “This unscientific and  unethical wolf cull is a consequence of oil and gas development, and industrial logging,” said Genovali, whose group has launched a petition urging the Alberta government to stop the wolf cull. “The Alberta government and resource industries  have transformed the caribou’s boreal habitat into a landscape that can no longer provide the food,  cover, and security these animals need to survive,”  said Genovali. “Rather than address the real problem, Alberta has chosen to scapegoat the wolves.” Backing up that claim, a government  study posted on the Internet in November states  that habitat degradation at the hands of industry is  key to the decline of caribou. In the recreational areas west of Rocky Mountain  House, snares are also being set. But the snares, some  spring-loaded, don’t choose what or who triggers them. They’re strong enough to hold a grizzly bear or moose  until the animals die. Family dogs accompanying  hikers have been known to fall victim to these deadly  contraptions. Wire snares are also used in the rural areas around  Red Deer to trap coyotes. Those setting these devices  are not required to post warning signs that wire snares  are in the woods they’re enjoying. The same concern  is expressed in the West Country, where warning signs  are also not required. Among the groups lobbying the government to ban  wire snares is Wolf Matters, a local group established  a couple of years ago. It’s founding members are area  biologist Myrna Pearman; Dwight Rodtka, a former  fieldman for Alberta Agriculture, living in the Rocky  area; and internationally acclaimed artist and author Anna-Marie Ferguson, now living in Red Deer. They  established a website (www.wolfmatters.ca). Since  then, many experts and conservationists have joined  the group. Rodtka says that under “ideal” laboratory conditions,  it takes at least eight minutes to strangle a wolf, coyote or dog. The Canadian Council on Animal Care says a snare must kill the intended target within five minutes to be deemed humane. But in the wilds, the snares are set in an uncontrolled  environment that could impair their mechanical operation and increase suffering much longer than  eight minutes. “Wolves tend to suffer more than other animals in  snares because they have extremely well-muscled necks and reinforced trachea,” said Rodtka. “Snared wolves that are very lucky may only live for hours; the unlucky ones take days to die.” People setting snares are not obligated by the  provincial government to check their sets within a  certain time. It could be several months. Rodtka is also critical of what’s called “saturation  snaring.” That means hauling a road-killed ungulate  to an area in the bush for bait, then setting upwards of 50 to 100 snares to catch an entire wolf pack. Another major concern for Wolf Matters is unintended targets caught in the snares, called “bycatch“ or “non-target.” Rodtka said that recently a rancher  in the Rocky area set 12 to 15 snares meant for wolves. In one week, the snares “caused the death  of a wolf pup, one or two white-tailed deer, one  black bear and one grizzly bear.” He said if this  sampling represented the potential of the “thousands of snares blanketing the West Country, the magnitude of bycatch could be staggering.” The Raincoast Conservation Foundation agrees. It  obtained internal government documents that  show that up until 2012, neck snares were the  primary cause of death for 676 non-target animals  in the Little Smoky wolf cull. Ironically, among the dead were two endangered caribou. Also dying in the snares were 40 bald and golden eagles, 163 cougars, 62 deer, 70 lynx, three grizzly bears, 173 fisher, 12 moose ... and the list goes  on. Killing more than 1,000 wolves in the last 10 years in  the Little Smoky region calls for high-tech strategic planning. Helicopters are used as gunships as they  hover over the packs and passengers open fire. There’s  bait on the ground laced with strychnine. There are snares in the woods. And the most infamous is using what’s called the “Judas wolves.” They are live-trapped  and fitted with a VHF radio collar that leads shooters  who are monitoring the radio signals to the packs. When the Judas wolf completes its duties, it too is shot. Methods of wolf management in Alberta’s Little Smoky region caught the eye of the Raincoast Conservation  Group. Its petition to stop the cull states “Only with immense international pressure can we convince Alberta  to put an immediate stop to the killing and commit to  effective caribou recovery by limiting habitat destruction.  ...” A study by Alberta Environment says a wolf cull is merely “buying time” for the caribou, while habitat  disruption carries the lion’s share of the problem. “The short-term efficacy of predator reduction, when  combined with long-term habitat conservation,  restoration and management, may be the only path  forward for recovering many woodland caribou  populations,” the study concludes. In a layperson’s terms, things don’t look good for the future of the endangered caribou — snares, or no snares. The damage has been done and recovery  is a long shot. But the killing of wolves continues, as if wiping out a second species some how validates the loss  of caribou.