B.C.\u2019s wolf cull program was instituted to reverse historic caribou declines. Provincial data today show the ungulate\u2019s numbers are rising in areas where wolves are killed. But the proposed extension, without steps to address habitat loss, has sparked outrage and concern among conservationists and scientists.<\/p>\n This is an \u201cequivocal, intensely debated\u201d issue, said wildlife biologist Paul Paquet at the\u00a0Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a B.C.-based NGO. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of moral confusion and ethical dilemmas here on this question about protecting caribou and helping caribou by killing wolves.\u201d<\/p>\n Caribou need protection: Over the last three decades, the population of southern mountain caribou declined by more than half, and the provincial government declared about\u00a010 herds\u00a0to be locally extinct as of 2023.<\/p>\n In 2003, the ungulates were classified as threatened under Canada\u2019s\u00a0Species at Risk Act (SARA).In 2014, the\u00a0Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), an advisory body to the federal government on wildlife conservation,\u00a0designated\u00a0the caribou populations in south and central B.C. as endangered. About 1,900 caribou remain there, according to\u00a0provincial estimates.<\/p>\n However, experts argue that wolves are a relatively minor threat compared to\u00a0widespread loss\u00a0of the caribou\u2019s preferred old-growth forest habitat, which is falling to logging and mining projects and being leveled for oil and gas pipelines.<\/p>\n In 2015, the B.C. government launched the\u00a0predator management\u00a0program, targeting wolves and pumas (Puma concolor<\/em>) in key caribou habitat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was originally described as an emergency measure and a very short-term action to take as a kind of last-ditch effort to save some of these dwindling caribou herds,\u201d said Kristen Weiss, wildlife and forests campaigner at\u00a0Pacific Wild, a B.C.-based environmental nonprofit that\u2019s followed the impact of the wolf culls since they began.<\/p>\n But that \u201cemergency measure\u201d has continued for more than a decade, killing 200-300 wolves each year. To date, B.C. has killed about 2,800 wolves, spending about C$13 million ($9.4 million) in taxpayer money.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how that has affected wolves\u2019 overall numbers. The province estimates there are anywhere between\u00a05,300 and 11,600 wolves\u00a0and says it isn\u2019t a species of concern. But no one knows for sure as there hasn\u2019t been a B.C.-wide systematic survey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite a wide range,\u201d said Chelsea Greer, director of the wolf conservation program at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, adding that killing hundreds of wolves in a year has consequences. \u201cWe see impacts on [wolves\u2019] stress levels and reproduction,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Wolves are intelligent animals with a highly organized social structure. \u201cRemoving breeding individuals can have huge impacts on the persistence of that pack and the longevity of that pack,\u201d Greer said, adding that by killing adults, \u201cyou\u2019re losing a lot of generational knowledge\u201d among packs.<\/p>\n The last cull program, which began in 2021, expired in March of this year.<\/p>\n Officials have reached out to stakeholders for input, but unlike the last extension, they haven\u2019t made a public announcement or engaged the public in discussions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a lot of clarity around the process of how they decide they\u2019re to extend or not,\u201d Weiss said, adding that her organization was consulted by representatives from the caribou recovery program. \u201cWe were not given a proposal document; they just gave us a short PowerPoint presentation about their proposed extension, and then we were meant to provide feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacific Wild\u00a0opposed\u00a0the extension of the cull program in the feedback it provided.<\/p>\n Every winter, the government hires contractors to shoot entire packs of wolves from low-flying helicopters in caribou habitats, wiping out some 80-90% of these predators in an area. Many suffer a\u00a0slow, painful death, according to information obtained by Pacific Wild. These killings are in addition to legalized trapping and wolf hunts in the province.<\/p>\n But killing wolves is unpopular with people. In 2021, the government conducted a public opinion survey that found\u00a059% of British Columbians opposed\u00a0it, even as 98% said caribou recovery was important. In areas where caribou are found, 53-82% supported killing predators.<\/p>\n A more recent survey, conducted in 2026 by Pacific Wild, found\u00a0about three-quarters\u00a0of the province\u2019s people oppose any wolf killing.<\/p>\n Mongabay asked the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, the department in charge of the caribou recovery program, why there\u2019s been no public outreach about the proposed extension. A ministry spokesperson said current stakeholder consultations and \u201cpast public engagement results continue to guide B.C.\u2019s overall recovery strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n B.C.\u2019s mountains are home to\u00a0about\u00a04,000\u00a0woodland caribou, which constitute the southern mountain population. These herds live in old-growth forests across the deep-snow regions of southeastern B.C. and parts of the northern U.S., eating lichens that grow on centuries-old trees high up the mountains to survive the winter.<\/p>\n But over the last century,\u00a0much of these old-growth forests\u00a0have been cut down, harvested for timber, or leveled to make way for mining operations and oil and gas pipelines, according to a 2020 report. Loss of critical habitat starves caribou of their winter food and leaves them vulnerable to predator attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cCaribou\u2019s long-term evolutionary strategy was to segregate themselves to become more of an old-growth ungulate specialist, whereas some of the other ungulates were in younger forests,\u201d said wildlife biologist Cole Burton, who runs the\u00a0Wildlife Coexistence Lab\u00a0at the University of British Columbia. \u201cSo caribou could get away from some of these concentrations of wolves.\u201d<\/p>\n As old-growth forests fall and younger trees replace them, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus<\/em>) and moose (Alces alces<\/em>) move into the landscape, Burton said, \u201cand it\u2019s made the conditions worse for the caribou.\u201d Predators such as wolves, pumas, black bears (Ursus americanus<\/em>) and others then follow these prey species.<\/p>\n A\u00a0recent study\u00a0from Burton\u2019s lab shows how clear-cut forests act as \u201cecological traps\u201d for mountain caribou, who otherwise tend to avoid them. \u201cWe\u2019ve found that the caribou in our study area are selecting these cut blocks probably because they\u2019re nutritionally stressed,\u201d Burton said \u2014 they\u2019re hungry. \u201cThis is bringing them into areas where there\u2019s more predation risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Apart from logging, slicing up the forest for roads and pipelines also impacts caribou. More than\u00a0600,000\u00a0kilometers (about 373,000 miles) of service roads \u2014 built to transport timber and mined ore and maintain pipelines \u2014 snake through the province, opening this terrain to humans and other animals.<\/p>\n \u201cWolves use these linear features to travel two to three times faster,\u201d said Jason Fisher, who runs the\u00a0Applied Conservation Macroecology Lab\u00a0at the University of Victoria, Canada, referring to his\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0that investigated moose deaths. \u201cA faster wolf increases its encounter rate with caribou, which increases kill rates and draws caribou populations down.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2016\u00a0study\u00a0from neighboring Alberta province, where wolf culls have also been going on since 2005 to save caribou, found that wolves were up to eight times more likely to use roads or paths cleared for pipelines rather than meander through forests.<\/p>\n By laying down roads, humans are making it easier for wolves to get around, Fisher said. \u201cIt\u2019s been to their benefit and to the detriment of both moose and caribou.\u201d<\/p>\n Wildfire is also destroying habitat. Increasingly frequent, larger blazes,\u00a0accelerated by climate change and drought-like conditions, burn down large swaths of old-growth forests, impacting caribou numbers. Nearly 400,000 hectares (almost 1 million acres) of B.C.\u2019s old-growth forests were lost to wildfire between 2021 and 2025, according to a\u00a0report\u00a0commissioned by the nonprofit Sierra Club BC.<\/p>\n In 2023, 457 wildfires burned 869,861 hectares (2.1 million acres) in B.C. \u2014 about twice the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and 53 times the average loss. So far this year, more than\u00a01,000 wildfires\u00a0have blazed through the province, gutting some 432,613 hectares (1.07 million acres).<\/p>\n Habitat lost to logging and fires pushes caribou closer to the brink. \u201cWhat human activity has done is created more access and shifted those predator-prey dynamics,\u201d said Greer from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. \u201cWhen [caribou numbers] get to such a low point, one wolf running into one caribou can make a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n As humans continue to interfere with the landscape by altering habitats and selectively killing predators, they affect entire ecosystems in a domino effect, conservationists say. While some of those effects are known, there are others that we don\u2019t yet know.<\/p>\n For example, killing large numbers of wolves from a helicopter changes the canids\u2019 behavior, according to a\u00a02025 study\u00a0by Fisher, Burton and their colleagues. \u201cInstead of being predominantly active during the day, they switch to nighttime mode \u2026 that\u2019s when they come out in force, because they clearly recognize that the daytime is a dangerous place for them to be,\u201d Fisher said.\u00a0 The wolves then prey on small mammals active at night, such as snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus<\/em>).<\/p>\n The study also found that coyotes and lynx (Lynx canadensis<\/em>), which compete with wolves, also adjusted the times when they prowl. \u201cBefore the cull, when you had wolves dominating a landscape, coyotes and lynx used patches of the landscape where wolves were not,\u201d Fisher said. When the wolves disappeared, these other predators became more active.<\/p>\n However, Fisher said, \u201cWe don\u2019t know what the knock-on effects are going to be.\u201d Coyotes can hunt and kill caribou calves. If these canids replace their larger cousins, it will mean that the wolves were killed essentially for no reason, Fisher said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that is apparent, even if [the wolf cull] is effective, is that the positive effects are very temporary,\u201d said Paquet from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, adding that it won\u2019t work over the long term \u2014 as opposed to focusing on habitat.<\/p>\n Some herds have grown since the wolf cull started, according to the B.C. government\u2019s\u00a02023 caribou estimates. \u201cThere are now an estimated 1,500 more caribou in treated herds than would have existed without human intervention,\u201d the ministry\u2019s spokesperson wrote in an email response to Mongabay. \u201cSeveral herds have experienced significant population increases due to predator reduction and other recovery actions.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to wolf culls, these recovery actions include capturing pregnant caribou and penning them until they birth and raise their calves to between 6 and 10 weeks old, a method called maternal penning; as well as sterilizing wolves; offering supplemental feeding to caribou in the fall; and reducing moose and white-tailed deer numbers, which attract predators, by allowing licensed hunts.<\/p>\n A 2024\u00a0study\u00a0involving provincial biologists showed these interventions increased overall caribou numbers by 52% compared to a simulated scenario without them. In some herds, the numbers have doubled since they began, according to data shared by the spokesperson.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not surprising, Burton from UBC said, as wolves do prey on caribou. \u201cSo, if we remove some of that source of mortality, chances are we\u2019re helping caribou,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But his 2025\u00a0study\u00a0showed that results varied according to terrain. In rugged, hard-to-reach areas high in the mountains, caribou numbers increased after the wolf cull by about 41%. But downslope, where predators such as grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis<\/em>), wolverines (Gulo gulo<\/em>) and others also prowl, there was no increase.<\/p>\n \u201cOther predators just compensate for the wolves, and there\u2019s no net benefit of the wolf reduction,\u201d Burton said. \u201cTo me, that just shows that we can\u2019t expect the same result everywhere. It\u2019s going to depend on the terrain, the ecosystem, the other predators in the system \u2026 [Killing wolves] is not a silver bullet, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n An\u00a0earlier study\u00a0concluded that wolf reduction and maternal penning did not help caribou recover, and the increase in some herds depended solely on how badly their habitats were disturbed by human activities.<\/p>\n Weiss from Pacific Wild also disputed the province\u2019s conclusions about caribou numbers stabilizing or increasing. \u201cWe\u2019re still seeing caribou herd declines in many of these areas where the wolf cull is occurring,\u201d she said. Weiss noted that a deeper look into the government\u2019s\u00a0 research reports and data showed a lot could be attributed to multiple factors, making it difficult to single out just how effective wolf culls actually are.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, killing wolves is expensive: In 2026, B.C. spent C$1.5 million ($1.1 million) to cull 301 wolves, a recent\u00a0investigation\u00a0by news outlet The Tyee found. It cost C$74,900 ($54,400) to shoot just one wolf in the Kootenays, a rugged mountainous region home to a herd of about\u00a0200 caribou.<\/p>\n While the B.C. government is pushing hard to continue culling wolves, some researchers argue that this strategy ignores the root cause of caribou declines: habitat loss.<\/p>\n Territory for caribou in B.C. and neighboring Alberta is rapidly shrinking: Seven caribou ranges lost nearly a quarter of their habitat from 2000 to 2018 according to a\u00a02021 study<\/a>, and the rate has increased since then.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in the loss of their habitat in the last 10 years since the wolf cull, so even if some caribou herds are increasing in the short term, over a year or two, in the long term they\u2019re not going to have the habitat to sustain their population numbers anyway,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n Despite this, and its stated commitment to caribou conservation, the province continues to issue new logging permits within caribou habitat \u2014 one as recently as 2026, according to a\u00a0report\u00a0by state broadcaster CBC.<\/p>\n \u201cThere isn\u2019t a legal framework for some typical amount of caribou habitat protection, which is really interesting,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n Some Indigenous communities are\u00a0pushing for protection\u00a0of caribou habitat. In July 2026, the Xat\u015b\u016bll First Nation joined the Sylix Okanagan Nation in\u00a0petitioning the federal government\u00a0to issue an emergency order to protect the southern mountain caribou under the Species at Risk Act.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite [caribou] declines, British Columbia continues to authorize forestry activities within important\u00a0selcw\u00e9ycen<\/em>\u00a0habitat, increasing disturbance in areas essential for the species\u2019 survival and recovery,\u201d the Xat\u015b\u016bll First Nation said in a\u00a0press release. \u201cIn some cases, British Columbia has even authorized such forestry activity against the advice of its own caribou conservation specialists working within government.\u201d<\/p>\n Selcw\u00e9ycen<\/em>\u00a0is \u201ccaribou\u201d in Secw\u00e9pemcts\u00edn, a language spoken by the Secw\u00e9pemc people in the central and southern interior of B.C.<\/p>\n Conservationists warn that without forest conservation, the province will continue killing wolves. Paquet called the approach \u201can infinite loop,\u201d with habitat destruction continuing beside ongoing culling. \u201cCulling wolves is an expensive and really temporary Band-Aid that ignores this whole idea of irreversible habitat degradation,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you were to view it scientifically, it\u2019s very short term, if it is successful at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Killing wolves also reduces motivation to focus on habitat conservation, Burton said. \u201cWe think we\u2019re doing something for caribou\u2026 so we can kind of kick the can down the road of making those tough decisions about how we change our forestry industry.\u201d<\/p>\n But the government insists predator control is necessary for now.<\/p>\n \u201cHabitat protection, conservation, and restoration are essential for long-term recovery but do not have immediate effects,\u201d the ministry spokesperson said in the email statement. \u201cIn the meantime, predator levels must be managed in at-risk herds so threatened caribou can recover and benefit from habitat improvements. Without this, the predator-prey imbalance would persist, and those caribou populations would likely continue to decline.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics say the roles of the conservation and forest ministries in the province are diametrically opposed: One is charged with wildlife protection, the other with issuing logging permits and promoting forestry.<\/p>\n \u201cTimber and resource extraction policies in Western Canada actively clash with the caribou conservation targets,\u201d Paquet said, adding that the government, for years, has lacked the \u201cpolitical will to align economic and ecological priorities in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Blaming the wolves, instead of extractive industries, is a cop-out for the province, Fisher said. \u201cWolf culls are being used to allow further landscape change \u2026 they\u2019re increasing the pace of development,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are using wolf culls as a get-out-of-jail-free card, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n The ministries\u2019 spokesperson did not answer Mongabay\u2019s questions about government policies on new permits that would allow logging in caribou territory \u2014 or whether the two ministries would work together to stop new logging.<\/p>\n \u201cExisting protections are in place for affected herds, while additional habitat conservation measures and recovery initiatives continue to be developed to support resilient ecosystems, Indigenous rights and sustainable outcomes for British Columbians,\u201d the spokesperson said in response.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, with fewer trees left to cut, about\u00a020 lumber mills\u00a0have closed in B.C. since 2023, and others\u00a0may be in the offing. Forestry in B.C. is in\u00a0turmoil\u00a0as profits were declining even before U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s 10% tariffs, which dealt a major blow; Trump announced a new\u00a050% tariff\u00a0that began on Aug. 22 and includes\u00a0wood products.<\/p>\n As tides change in the forestry industry, some argue B.C. needs to adapt for the future. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a rapid decline in the forest industry, but the Ministry of Forests is still holding on to yesterday\u2019s world and trying to do everything to keep things the way they have been,\u201d said Julian Axmann, executive director at the NGO\u00a0BC Spaces for Nature. \u201cWe need to do forestry in a way that meets the 21st century \u2026 no logging in caribou habitat and really looking at the most economically efficient logging.\u201d<\/p>\n Habitat restoration will take years, possibly a century before it really takes effect, wildlife biologist Fisher said, \u201cand caribou don\u2019t have a century.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to stop the rampant development, clearing of new linear features and areas, and we have to restore what we\u2019ve already disturbed. We have to start it now if we want to have an ecosystem that looks boreal in the next century,\u201d Fisher said, urging the province to act now.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there are short-term fixes. Studies\u00a0show\u00a0that blocking roads and seismic lines and putting up flags near them drives wolves away. Another\u00a0intervention\u00a0is to turn the soil over where roads and pipelines exist, mound it up, plant trees, and help the forests regrow, so wolves don\u2019t use the roads as shortcuts to get to where the caribou are.<\/p>\n While restoration is costly, Axmann said there are ways to finance these projects: federal funding; redirecting money spent on culls to bring back lost habitat; and seeking compensation from private entities for logging and mining in old-growth forests.<\/p>\n Carbon credits are another option, he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re pulling out the roads and the forest is growing back, there\u2019s a net carbon benefit from that, so maybe that could be sold as a carbon offset.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have nonlethal solutions,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cWe have paths forward. We have really smart scientists who have suggested pathways towards habitat protection for caribou. We just need the political will to follow through on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Gharajehdaghipour,\u00a0T., Tjaden-McClement,\u00a0K., Muhly,\u00a0T.\u00a0B., Kamler,\u00a0J.\u00a0F., Konanz,\u00a0Z., & Burton,\u00a0A.\u00a0C. (2026). Are forestry clearcuts ecological traps for caribou?\u00a0Landscape Ecology<\/em>. doi:10.1007\/s10980-026-02411-1<\/a><\/p>\n Boucher, N. P., Anderson, M., Ladle, A., Procter, C., Marshall, S., Kuzyk, G., \u2026 Fisher, J. T. (2022). Cumulative effects of widespread landscape change alter predator-prey dynamics.\u00a0Scientific Reports<\/em>,\u00a012<\/em>(1), 11692. doi:10.1038\/s41598-022-15001-3<\/a><\/p>\n Dickie, M., Serrouya, R., McNay, R. S., & Boutin, S. (2016). Faster and farther: wolf movement on linear features and implications for hunting behaviour.\u00a0Journal of Applied Ecology<\/em>,\u00a054<\/em>(1), 253-263. doi:10.1111\/1365-2664.12732<\/a><\/p>\n Daniels, L. D., Dickson-Hoyle, S., Baron, J. N., Copes-Gerbitz, K., Flannigan, M. D., Castellanos-Acuna, D., \u2026 Gray, R. W. (2024). The 2023 wildfires in British Columbia, Canada: Impacts, drivers, and transformations to coexist with wildfire.\u00a0Canadian Journal of Forest Research<\/em>,\u00a055<\/em>, 1-18. doi:10.1139\/cjfr-2024-0092<\/a><\/p>\n Frey, S., Tejero, D., Baillie\u2010David, K., Burton, A. C., & Fisher, J. T. (2022). Predator control alters wolf interactions with prey and competitor species over the diel cycle.\u00a0Oikos<\/em>,\u00a02022<\/em>(8). doi:10.1111\/oik.08821<\/a><\/p>\n Lamb, C. T., Williams, S., Boutin, S., Bridger, M., Cichowski, D., Cornhill, K., \u2026 Serrouya, R. (2024). Effectiveness of population\u2010based recovery actions for threatened southern mountain caribou.\u00a0Ecological Applications<\/em>,\u00a034<\/em>(4), e2965. doi:10.1002\/eap.2965<\/a><\/p>\n Gharajehdaghipour, T., Auger\u2010M\u00e9th\u00e9, M., & Burton, A. C. (2025). Neonate mortality in mountain caribou: Patterns of predation during onset of a wolf reduction program.\u00a0The Journal of Wildlife Management<\/em>,\u00a090<\/em>(2). doi:10.1002\/jwmg.70143<\/a><\/p>\n Harding, L. E., Bourbonnais, M., Cook, A. T., Spribille, T., Wagner, V., & Darimont, C. (2020). No statistical support for wolf control and maternal penning as conservation measures for endangered mountain caribou.\u00a0Biodiversity and Conservation<\/em>,\u00a029<\/em>(9-10), 3051-3060. doi:10.1007\/s10531-020-02008-3<\/a><\/p>\n Nagy\u2010Reis, M., Dickie, M., Calvert, A. M., Hebblewhite, M., Hervieux, D., Seip, D. R., \u2026 Serrouya, R. (2021). Habitat loss accelerates for the endangered woodland caribou in western Canada.\u00a0Conservation Science and Practice<\/em>,\u00a03<\/em>(7). doi:10.1111\/csp2.437<\/a><\/p>\n Dickie, M., Sherman, G. G., Sutherland, G. D., McNay, R. S., & Cody, M. (2022). Evaluating the impact of caribou habitat restoration on predator and prey movement.\u00a0Conservation Biology<\/em>,\u00a037<\/em>(2), e14004. doi:10.1111\/cobi.14004<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Woodland](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/08\/31132908\/caribou_canada_2-2.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Proposal to extend wolf cull not transparent, conservationists say<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Habitat loss, not wolves, driving caribou declines, scientists say<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Killing wolves changes predator-prey interactions, studies show<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Province says caribou numbers up; critics question results<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Wolf cull strategy has no exit plan, conservationists say<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Conservation and forestry at loggerheads in B.C.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Nonlethal alternatives exist<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u00a0\u00a0Citations:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Woodland](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/09\/01143158\/canada-caribou.jpg "\\"\\"")