100 MILE HOUSE (NEWS1130) - The rebound in the Cariboo region's wolf population has reignited the debate over hunting and trapping the animals.
The BC government has
lifted restrictions on hunting for wolves that prey on cattle, but critics say the open season is bad management based on poor science.
Rodger Stewart, the director of resource management for the BC Interior, says the wolf hunt is open indefinitely because ranchers and First Nations have reported a steady increase in the number of wolves hunting cattle.
Stewart says there's an imbalance with wolves in the ecosystem, and he denies this is a cull on wolves.
But Paul Paquet, a biologist with the
Raincoast Conservation Foundation, says the ministry doesn't know what the wolf populations are and an open hunt could result in young wolves from disrupted packs hunting cattle as easy prey.
Kevin Boon with the
BC Cattlemen's Association says no one is out to eradicate wolves, but if something isn't done, nature has a way of controlling the wolf population by way of disease and starvation.