Simply Heart Breaking..

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

Canadian Government Plans to Poison Wolves Due to Tar Sands Project


The toll of tar sands development has been largely hidden hundreds of miles to the North. Canadian forests once provided the last undisturbed refuge in North America for migrating songbirds, ducks and geese, and the vast stretches of wilderness in northern Alberta have been ideal for wild wolves and caribou that have thrived in balance with nations of native Canadians for countless generations. But that was all before oil companies moved in and took control of the Albertan government.

A recent report from the National Wildlife Federation has drawn attention to Canada's plan to poison thousands of wolves in a desperate effort to save caribou decimated by oil development. Recent scientific studies have proved that Canada's Woodland caribou herds are heading toward extinction due to habitat destruction from tar sands and other oil development. Today's Los Angeles Times article sums up the story:

    Woodland caribou herds in Canada are declining, and tar sands development is a big part of the reason why. But Canada's national and provincial governments know what do about that: Kill the wolves.

The National Wildlife Federation's biologists have concluded:

    Canada's proposed solution to habitat destruction from tar sands development is to destroy the wolves that prey on caribou, instead of protecting their habitat.

    Two particularly repugnant methods of destroying wolves -- shooting wolves from helicopters and poisoning wolves with baits laced with strychnine -- would be carried out in response to the caribou declines. Strychnine is a deadly poison known for an excruciating death that progresses painfully from muscle spasms to convulsions to suffocation, over a period of hours. Wildlife officials will place strychnine baits on the ground or spread them from aircraft in areas they know wolves inhabit. In addition to wolves, non-target animals like raptors, wolverines and cougars will be at risk from eating the poisoned baits or scavenging on the deadly carcasses of poisoned wildlife.

Americans have been dragged into this mess via the controversial Keystone XL pipeline proposal, which would move the thick black crude under 1,700 miles of the U.S. heartland. So now the same oil companies that have ravaged Alberta's wilderness have brought their deep pockets to America to fight President Obama's prudent decision to deny a permit for this massive new tar sands pipeline.

They're running millions of dollars in TV commercials and spending millions more on lobbying. By turning tar sands into a kitchen table issue in the United States, Transcanada has drawn more scrutiny on what is really happening with the massive tar sands expansion than Alberta was prepared for.

This story is gaining a lot of attention and picking up steam and has gone viral, which isn't surprising since National Wildlife Federation is the United States' largest conservation organization with four million supporters. National Wildlife Federation was also a leading voice in the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park -- wolves imported from Canada thanks to the generous cooperation of the Canadian government in the mid-90's.

Wolves aren't the only wildlife impacted by tar sands. Waterfowl that land on the industry's toxic tailing ponds have been killed in the thousands.

You can learn more about tar sands' impacts on wildlife by reading our November NWF magazine story.

We have a voice and a role to play here in the United States. Oil companies have convinced some members of Congress to try to overrule the president's prudent decision on the tar sands pipeline. Let Congress know that America shouldn't reward Alberta's oil industry by reviving Transcanada's tar sands pipeline project. This tar sands pipeline is the oil export gateway that oil companies need to drive a massive expansion of habitat-destroying tar sands operations. And it would amount to an American seal of approval for the strychnine-poisoning of Alberta's wolves.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-symons/wolves-secretly-poisoned-_b_1268761.html

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

It saddens me to no end. I read this and I think, in effort to save the real and true beings, perhaps it's
time humankind left the planet.

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

i am deeply, deeply disturbed by this.

[earthw7]

ah what can you expect the people are killing themselves
when we kill the wildlife we kill ourselves

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

i expect people to care what the oil company greed is doing to our planet.
hopefully enough do care to keep this thing from going through.

[ShadowDancer]

A similar situation is occurring in the USA in Idaho.  They are hunting the wolves ostensibly restore the Lolo elk populations.  Nevermind that there has been significant changes to the elk habitat, severe weather, other predators such as mountain lions, bears and human hunters.

Three hundred eighteen dead so far in the entire state.  Depressing, distressing and despicable.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/feb/23/aerial-gunners-kill-14-wolves-north-idaho/

Aerial gunners kill 14 wolves in North Idaho
By Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune

Federal wildlife agents shot and killed 14 wolves from helicopters in Idaho’s remote Lolo Zone earlier this month.

The three-day operation, aimed at reducing the number of wolves roaming the backcountry area where elk herds are struggling, was carried out in a partnership between the federal Wildlife Services agency and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Wildlife managers hope a sustained reduction in wolf numbers will allow the Lolo elk herd, which has been severely depressed since the mid 1990s, to rebound.

“We’d like to see one of Idaho’s premier elk populations recover as much as possible,” said Jim Unsworth, deputy director of the department at Boise.

The department has long had a goal of reducing the number of wolves in the area along the upper Lochsa and North Fork Clearwater rivers, once renowned for its elk hunting.

The agency first sought permission in 2006 from federal wildlife managers to kill 40 to 50 wolves that at the time were still under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The state failed to win permission then and eventually gave up in favor of seeking the overall delisting of wolves.

Delisting occurred in 2009 and a wolf hunting season was authorized. Hunters killed 13 wolves in the zone that year, far fewer than wildlife managers hoped for.

Following the hunting season, wolves were briefly returned to federal management. They were delisted for a second time in the spring of 2011 and the department quickly approved a control action that resulted in six wolves being shot using helicopters.

Hunting resumed in the fall and trapping started in November. Through Wednesday, hunters and trappers had taken 22 wolves from the Lolo, bringing the total known wolf kills there to 42 and in line with the department’s plan for the area.

Elk herds tanked in the Lolo Zone during the harsh winter of 1996-97. But numbers had been on the decline for many years prior.

Biologists said the biggest problem was a long-term change in the habitat, but they also blamed growing numbers of bears and mountain lions. Hunting seasons on those predators were liberalized and managers expected elk numbers to slowly climb. But the herds continued to shrink and blame was placed on the increasing number of wolves moving into the area.

According to recent studies by researchers from the department, wolves are the primary cause of death in female elk in the Lolo and of calves more than 6 months old. Researchers have said the habitat is capable of supporting far more than the 2,000 elk estimated to be in the area.

Through Wednesday, hunters and trappers had killed 318 wolves throughout the state. Most hunting and trapping seasons end March 31, but wolf hunting will be allowed in the Lolo and Selway zones through June. The department has a goal of reducing the number of wolves in the state, but has not set a target population or limit.

Unsworth said the state would manage wolves to ensure they remain under state authority. Wolves could revert to federal management and ESA protection if numbers dip below 150 animals. The last official population estimate, completed in spring of last year, said there were at least 739 wolves in the state. Unsworth said the state is confident the statewide population was in excess of 1,000 prior to the start of wolf hunting last summer.

Suzanne Stone, of the Defenders of Wildlife at Boise, said the state is being too aggressive in its attempt to reduce wolf numbers.

“That is our concern and it has been all along, that Idaho is focused entirely on killing wolves rather than preserving the species,” Stone said.

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

for all the animals at the hands of the worst of humanity.

[aya]

something one can do

https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1569
for US citizens only


for all countries
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-wolves-to-be-poisoned-over-tar-sands/

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

More petition..

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/tar_sands_wolves