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| 23. Mai 2016 |
| Provinzregierung von BC vor Gericht zur eidesstattlichen Erklärung gezwungen: Zu viele Lebensräume der Bergkaribus wurden zerstört, jetzt können sie nicht mehr überleben |
Bereits im Januar 2015 hatte das Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operation von BC unter Leitung von Minister Steve Thomson ein über mehrere Jahre laufendes Wolfstötungsprogramm im South Peace- und South Selkirk-Gebiet begonnen. Durch den Abschuss möglichst aller Wölfe in diesen Gebieten sollten die durch den Verlust an Lebensräumen vom Aussterben bedrohten Bergkaribus gerettet werden. Jahrzehntelang hatte die Provinzregierung die Zerstörung der Lebensräume, vor allem der Wintereinstände, der Bergkaribus durch Forstindustrie, Bergbau und Freizeit-Infrastruktur nicht nur zugelassen, sondern sie aus wirtschaftlichen Überlegungen geradezu forciert. Jetzt, nachdem es längst zu spät ist, werden die Wölfe zu Sündenböcken dieser dramatischen Bestandsentwicklung der Bergkaribus gemacht und sollen in diesen Gebieten ausgerottet werden. 2015 wurden im South Selkirk- und im South Peace-Gebiet 84 Wölfe getötet, 2016 sind es bislang 163. Von Helikoptern aus werden die Wölfe reihenweise erschossen, manchmal ganze Rudel. Nach Regierungsschätzungen haben nur etwa 30 Wölfe das Tötungsprogramm überlebt. Darunter sind wohl auch einige sogenannte „Judas-Wölfe“, besenderte Wölfe, die über ihr Senderhalsband jederzeit aus der Luft geortet werden können und den Jägern in den Helikoptern den Aufenthaltsort der verborgenen Rudel verraten. So können ganze Rudel auf brutale Art und Weise niedergemetzelt werden.
Pacific Wild und die Valhalla Wilderness Society sind gegen das Wolfstötungsprogramm der Provinzregierung zur Eliminierung von mindestens 500 Wölfen (Kosten für die Steuerzahler von BC: 2,2 Millionen CAD) vor Gericht gezogen. Jetzt musste die Regierung von BC gegenüber dem B.C. Supreme Court in einer eidesstattlichen Erklärung einräumen, dass sie im South Peace-Gebiet für die industrielle Entwicklung die Zerstörung von so vielen Lebensräumen der Bergkaribus erlaubt habe, dass ihnen ein Überleben nicht mehr möglich sei. „Province admits there is not enough intact habitat left for endangered caribou herds in the South Peace: affidavit”, lautete die Pressemitteilung von Pacific Wild vom 16. Mai 2016, die nachfolgend für Sie wiedergeben ist:
Der Artikel von Elizabeth McSheffrey im National Observer vom 17. Mai 2016 (McKenna won’t give a straight answer about Enbridge pipeline) ist nachfolgend auszugsweise wiedergegeben:
“In an affidavit submitted to the B.C. Supreme Court, the government of British Columbia admits it allowed industrial development to destroy and fragment so much mountain caribou habitat in the South Peace region that caribou can no longer survive as they did for thousands of years.
The affidavit is part of the Province’s response to Pacific Wild and Valhalla Wilderness Society’s petition for a Judicial Review of their experimental wolf cull in the South Peace. The multi-year kill program was launched in the South Peace and South Selkirk regions in January 2015. Since then, over 250 wolves have been killed.
The submission, which included several other official documents as evidence, reveals the responsible Ministers were fully aware of the impact of habitat destruction on caribou herds for decades, yet continued to permit industrial development.
The key affidavit was provided by Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations’ Christopher Addison, Director of Resource Management, Regional Operations Division-North Area. Addison, who authorized the South Peace wolf cull, made a number of concessions, including:
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acknowledging that there is no longer sufficient intact caribou habitat to maintain spatial separation from wolves in the South Peace (paras 19-20);
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admitting mountain caribou predation is largely a result of extensive habitat alterations arising from cumulative industrial and natural disturbances (para 18);
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conceding that caribou are not the main prey of wolves, but wolves may incidentally kill caribou (para 19); and
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claiming that wolves cause less than half of caribou mortality in the South Peace (para 17).
‘The B.C. government’s response exposes a wilful negligence of its duty to protect and conserve wildlife and ecosystems,’ said Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild, ‘The government has known for decades that habitat destruction and fragmentation by forestry, energy projects, coal and other human use led to drastic caribou declines. So much more could have been done, and could still be done, to protect and restore the habitat that caribou need to survive. Instead, they are killing hundreds of wolves to appease industry and other vested interests.’
Pacific Wild and Valhalla Wilderness Society have serious concerns about the way wildlife management decisions are made in B.C. Populations, species and entire ecosystems that existed for millennia are being wiped out in a very short time under an entrenched policy framework heavily influenced by industry and special interests.
‘The public is being misled to believe that slaughtering predators will save the mountain caribou over the long term,’ stated Craig Pettit of the Valhalla Wilderness Society. ‘The government never tells the public that up to 60% of mountain caribou mortalities are due to other predators and unknown causes, or that the massive 7-year wolf cull in Alberta failed to increase the Little Smokey caribou herd.’
Now that the 2016 wolf cull has ended, Pacific Wild and Valhalla Wilderness Society have withdrawn their petition for a judicial review and are working with counsel to determine next steps.”
Weitere Informationen zur Situation der vom Aussterben bedrohten Bergkaribus finden Sie im Artikel „Witnessing extinction – Cumulative impacts across landscapes and the future loss of an evolutionarily significant unit of woodland caribou in Canada“ von Chris Johnson, Libby Ehlers und Dale Seip, der im Journal Biological Conservation erschienen ist. Die Zusammenfassung des Artikels ist nachfolgend abgedruckt:
“Habitat change is a major driver of species distribution and persistence, but there have been few recorded extinction events for terrestrial mammals across Canada. Currently, we are observing the decline, extirpation, and perhaps extinction of several evolutionarily significant units of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), an iconic and cultural keystone species. We used an extensive set of caribou locations (5 subpopulations, 102 animals, 270,808 GPS-collar locations) collected over 11 years within the Central Mountain Designatable Unit to develop species distribution models that quantified avoidance by caribou of anthropogenic and natural disturbance features. Those empirical relationships allowed us to measure the loss of habitat over a 22-year period and correlate habitat change with measured population decline. The disturbance responses for caribou were complex and varied by season and subpopulation. We modelled a zone of influence for roads (1.75 km), seismic and pipelines (2.5 km), oil and gas features (4.25 km), cutblocks (5.5 km), burns (8.0 km), and coal mines (3.0 km). When the distribution models for each subpopulation were applied to the respective seasonal ranges, we measured a maximum loss in high-quality habitat of 65.9%. The reduction in habitat was strongly correlated with the annual multiplicative growth rate of 5 subpopulations of caribou. At current rates of habitat loss and population decline, these caribou, a significant component of Canada’s biodiversity, are unlikely to persist. Although the factors leading to extinction are complex, the cumulative impacts of industrial development are a correlative if not causative factor.”
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