To reduce predation on a woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population threatened by industrial disturbance, a recent study in Alberta (Canada) used strychnine baits to kill wolves (Canis lupus). Strychnine should not be used to control wolves because it is: (1) inhumane; (2) in contravention of animal welfare guidelines; and (3) non-selective.

​Despite the long-standing presence of wolves (Canis lupus) in Canada, attitudes toward wolves have been understudied at the national scale. However, such data can inform wildlife management policies and robust coexistence strategies. We developed an 11-question survey to assess “the social landscape” of wolves in Canada. We explored the following research questions: 1) Are attitudes toward wolves generally positive? 2) What is the role of proximity on attitudes toward and tolerance for wolves? 3) What demographic characteristics matter most? Preliminary results indicate that Canadians have positive attitudes toward wolves regardless of age, gender, province, and vote in the last federal election; only ethnicity had a statistically significant effect. We also found that positive attitude is related to proximity and tolerance. More research with larger sample sizes and more focused surveys are needed to delve deeper into these preliminary results.

To determine the minimum effect of strychnine baits placed for wolves in winter during a program targetting Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) in west-central Alberta from 2005 to 2020, I present a summary of all recorded species killed (n = 522). Fewer wolves (n = 245) were killed compared with non-target animals (n = 277), which included 10 mammal and four bird species. These data provide context on the environmental and ethical impacts of using poison as a component of wildlife management

Here we address 4 fact claims (assertions of fact) commonly provided in policies for permitting or encouraging an increase in the legal killing of wolves and other large carnivores: (1) increasing human safety, (2) raising human tolerance for surviving wolves, (3) preventing livestock loss, and (4) increasing wild ungulate populations.  We evaluate the fact claims (hereafter ‘claims’) by summarizing published scientific meta-analyses and systematic reviews in addition to reviewing >36 newer scientific studies on the social and ecological effects of killing wolves. 

Although completed over 50 years ago, the studies summarized here provide context on the ecological impacts and ethics of poison use to control wolves.

Mountain caribou, a behaviourally and genetically distinct set of ecotypes of the Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) restricted to the mountains of western Canada, have undergone severe population declines in recent decades. Although a broad consensus exists that the ultimate driver of these declines has been the reduction of habitat upon which mountain caribou depend, research and policy attention has increasingly focused on predation. Recently, Serrouya et al. (Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 116:6181–6186, 2019) analysed population dynamics data from 18 subpopulations in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, subject to different treatments and ‘controls’, and concluded that lethal wolf control and maternal caribou penning provide the most effective ways to stabilize population declines. Here we show that this inference was based on an unbalanced analytical approach that omitted a null scenario, excluded potentially confounding variables and employed irreproducible habitat alteration metrics. Our reanalysis of available data shows that ecotype identity is a better predictor of population trends than any adaptive management treatments considered by Serrouya et al.

International perspectives on and experiences with human–wildlife conflicts were explored to develop principles for ethical wildlife control. 

The notion that animal welfare applies to wildlife has escaped many animal welfarists and conservationists.
 

It is possible to integrate ethical aspects of wildlife conservation and animal welfare, and encourage a ‘wildlife welfare’ ethic among conservationists.