Wildlife Campaigns

February 21 2020

Caribou

cpawsadmin Campaigns, Wildlife Campaigns species at risk

An icon of BC’s wilderness, caribou have been resilient since the Ice Age, out-surviving mammoths and saber-toothed cats in the cold. In the winter, they continue to use their large hooves and acute sense of smell to find and dig up lichen—their unique food source.

For many Indigenous peoples like the West Moberly and Saulteau First Nations, caribou are foundational to their way of life—for generations, they’ve hunted caribou for food and as part of their culture.

Once, long ago, over 40,000 caribou roamed freely across the province. Now, less than 15,000 remain, fighting to survive on scattered lands full of predators, highways, and logging. For once thriving herds like the Klinse-Za, this number dwindles below 100. The clock is ticking fast for BC’s precious caribou, and we need to take action before it’s too late.

CARIBOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Across the province, there are a mere 55 caribou populations remaining today. BC’s most at-risk types of caribou—the boreal and southern mountain caribou—live in BC’s southeast and up north, near the Alberta and Yukon borders. Over 75% of these two caribou types are in decline or extirpated, never to come back.

Across BC, logging including clear-cutting in old growth forests, dramatically alters caribou habitats. Moose have moved into caribou territory, bringing their mutual predator, wolves, with them. This—alongside competition against moose for food and shelter and clear-cutting in BC’s old growth—has shrunk and fragmented traditional caribou habitat, causing their rapid decline.

Though the provincial government has created a draft plan for boreal caribou, it isn’t enough. The plan doesn’t protect all boreal caribou populations, and allows industries to continue some logging and oil extraction. Southern mountain caribou, on the other hand, have a recovery plan in place, but still, the animals are not recovering fast enough. We can and must do better.

WHY IS PROTECTING THEM IMPORTANT

Like grizzly bears, caribou are a keystone species in BC, which means their presence in a landscape shows us how healthy or harmed an ecosystem is. Many caribou depend on the health of BC’s inland temperate rainforest—one of only three in the entire world.

Caribou aren’t just a provincial matter, either. 2019 marked the end of caribou in the US, leading to the listing of BC caribou in the US Endangered Species Act in the hopes that BC will take action to protect the world’s only deep-snow caribou.

Protecting areas where they roam—like Dene Kʼéh Kusān—is a key way we can help these animals thrive.

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October 18 2018

Grizzly Bears

cpawsadmin Campaigns, FrontPageOurWorkSlider, Wildlife Campaigns coast to cascades

Grizzly bears have been admired by inhabitants of these lands for generations: they are fiercely protective mothers, strong and fearless when called for, and share homes with us across the province—homes that are shrinking and dividing rapidly because of us.

Of the 50,000 kiʔlawnaʔ that used to roam freely across North America—from Mexico to the northern shores of the Arctic Ocean—mere hundreds remain in BC and Washington’s most critical populations. We need urgent conservation measures to protect these animals.

BC’S GRIZZLY BEARS ARE IN TROUBLE

In BC, there are 55 Grizzly Bear populations, and 60% of them are threatened. In the southwestern part of the province, there are fewer than 300 Grizzly bears remaining in six populations, with as few as 24 bears in the Stein-Nahatlatch population and six bears in the North Cascades population.

Map with black bear icons shows red population density in six southwest regions — Grizzly Bear Population Units of Southwest BC | Coast to Cascades

Habitat destruction and fragmentation from roads, logging, and human interactions are the top reasons that BC’s grizzly populations are hurting. Though Grizzly Bear trophy hunting is banned in the province, defensive shootings, garbage-related conflicts, and vehicle collisions continue to threaten them.

WHY THEY SHOULD BE PROTECTED

Grizzly Bears are a keystone species in North America, which means their presence in a landscape shows us how healthy or harmed an ecosystem is. Losing them means that other animals like moose can grow in number and decimate local vegetation, hampering biodiversity and leaving less food for other species that depend on it

They also help disperse berry seeds through eating and excreting plants, aerate soil when they dig up tubers in the fall, and introduce nitrogen to riverbed soil when salmon carcasses are left to decompose.

For the St’át’imc, sməlqmix / suknaʔkinx (Okanagan), Stó:lō, Nlaka’pamux, Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh Úxumixw (Squamish), and Secwépemc (Shuswap) Peoples, Grizzly Bears are of high cultural importance. They are healers and teachers, showing communities where to find food and how to raise children. Several of these First Nations have advocated for better protection of BC’s Grizzly Bears.

Despite the obstacles they face, there’s hope for our Grizzly Bears. Learn more about how these communities are protecting Grizzly Bears with support from Coast to Cascades, a coalition (including CPAWS-BC) working to sound the alarm for grizzlies in BC:

Video: Grizzly Bear Translocation Initiative: A Hope for the Stein-Nahatlach Grizzly Bear Population

If you go out in the woods today and see a Grizzly Bear, please call the reporting hotline: 1-855-GO-GRIZZ (1-855-464-7499)

Want to talk with someone who shares your love for bears? Call Sarah, Development Manager for ways you can support Grizzly Bear conservation efforts in BC. Call 604-685-7445 x33 or email: sarah@cpawsbc.org

Support Grizzly Bears

Orca webpage banner - Christopher Michel

September 25 2018

Orcas

cpawsadmin Campaigns, Wildlife Campaigns wildlife

Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whales are iconic species on British Columbia’s coast. These orcas rely on healthy waters in the Salish Sea and around Vancouver Island. But they are facing numerous threats and their ocean home is being degraded.

PROTECT CRITICAL HABITAT

Studies have shown that southern residents frequent parts of the Strait of Georgia, like the Gulf Islands, which are not mapped in the critical habitat. That means important foraging areas could be left unprotected. We are asking Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to expand critical habitat areas to include these important zones.

DFO can also address the threat of prey scarcity by creating refuges in southern residents’ key foraging areas. These refuges would restrict commercial and recreational fishing of Chinook salmon, the whales’ preferred prey, and help the orcas hunt a dwindling food source.

Most importantly, the federal government must legislate bold and effective protections for critical habitat. Critical habitat for northern resident killer whales includes the coastal waters off northern Vancouver Island, where fish farms still dot the waters. Fish farms do not belong in the orcas’ home: government must work to remove existing fish farms as well as put a moratorium on any new aquaculture in critical orca habitat.

The southern resident population has critical habitat at the entrance to major ports in Vancouver and Seattle. They are plagued by thunderously loud shipping lanes, which inhibit natural activities and raise the risk of fatal ship strikes. In the Salish Sea, protections must include a mandatory speed limit for commercial shipping and tanker traffic to reduce harmful noise pollution.

CPAWS-BC is working to protect critical orca habitat with community members, partners, and government officials. You can help by submitting your input on critical habitat changes, and spreading the word to mobilize others to take action for killer whales.

For years, CPAWS has worked to advance a National Marine Conservation Area Reserve in the Southern Strait of Georgia. This marine protected area would help protect orca habitat, as well as safeguard a unique ocean ecosystem teaming with life.

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