If the Ford government gets its way, new hunting regulations will soon be enacted to the delight of Ontario’s moose hunters. The government proposes, controversially, to allow anyone in northern Ontario with a small game hunting license to kill up to two wolves and an unlimited number of coyotes per year. The stated reason: to curtail a decline in the population of moose, a prey coveted by hunters of the Homo sapiens variety.
What’s a few wolves and coyotes if it means more moose for the annual hunt? The problem is, and as science-based studies emphasize, keystone predators such as wolves and coyotes play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.
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Under pressure of hunters, conservation groups say, the government is foolishly prioritizing hunting moose for sport over a healthy and balanced natural environment.
Wolves and coyotes are being conveniently scapegoated, asserted Toronto Star writer Kaitlyn Mitchell in September. They are not responsible for Ontario’s dwindling moose population. Science points to a reality less convenient for Premier Ford and some hunters, too. The real culprits, Mitchell writes, are human-caused habitat loss and climate change which trigger problematic changes in wildlife range, food sources and parasites.
Other factors also contribute to fewer moose. The conservation group Ontario Nature says that since the 1980s, hunting season lengths and road access have increased, as well as the use of all-terrain vehicles, wireless communication, and moose calf hunting.
The success rate of hunters has jumped significantly, too, from 20-30 per cent with guns and from 5-10 per cent to 20-30 per cent with bows. It seems that hunters are hunting too many moose and still want more. The proposed regulations are wanton for other reasons. No population management targets and no rationale for the proposed bag limits are offered, Ontario Nature reports. And why the mass slaughter of coyotes?
Eastern coyotes do not consume moose in significant numbers. The Ford government’s own Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MNRF), wolves are the main predators of moose. But they prey mostly on young moose and moose past their prime and consume few moose of optimum breeding age. Also, the number of moose killed per wolf pack will not significantly decrease as the pack size is reduced, Ontario Nature says.
Wolves, coyotes and moose have lived together in a complex predator-prey relationship for thousands of years. This rapport naturally regulates itself, MNRF says, benefiting each species and the ecosystems they rely on.
What some moose hunters don’t seem to know or care about is that, as keystone predators, wolves and coyotes play a critical role in keeping ecosystems healthy. They help keep moose and deer populations in check which can benefit many other plant and animal species.
The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 – what some conservationists refer to as “rewilding” – offers a glimpse of just how radically keystone predators can impact natural environments.
British writer George Monbiot, known worldwide for his environmental activism, calls rewilding a “trophic cascade,” which is an “ecological process that starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles all the way down to the bottom.” Trophic refers to food and food supply.
Wolves were extirpated from Yellowstone 70 years earlier. Because of their long absence, an over-population of deer had grazed the park’s natural vegetation to almost nothing. With the reintroduction of wolves, and as their numbers increased, deer began avoiding areas frequented by the wolves. The spaces deer eluded began to regenerate. Denuded valleys became forests of aspen, willow and cottonwood.
In turn, the forests attracted many species of birds, and perhaps most importantly, beavers known for their ecosystem engineering and ability to create niche habitats for other species by damming streams.
Wolves ultimately transformed the ecosystems of a vast park, Monbiot says. It’s common knowledge that naturally functioning ecosystems are better at providing us with clean air and water, flooding and erosion prevention, and carbon storage as well as helping with climate change adaptation and mitigation.
So why then, without having done its scientific due diligence, would the Ford government want to “unwild” Ontario’s northland?
Readers can answer that question for themselves.
A final thought: To hunt moose in Ontario, hunters need an Outdoors Card, hunter accreditation on file with the Fish and Wildlife Licensing Service, firearms accreditation, and any licences and tags required for moose. Maybe the Ontario government should add to that list a mandatory course for hunters on the extensive benefits of the ecosystem services — to themselves, their children and grandchildren — provided by keystone predators like wolves and coyotes.
Gary W. Kenny is retired from a career in international human rights and development, a writer, and a resident of rural Grey County