David Suzuki-Hunting in parks is at odds with conservation

[Guest guest]

Hunting in parks is at odds with conservation

 

 

 

In nature, predators usually go after the weakest of the prey – the

oldest or youngest, the injured or ill. It makes sense; these animals

are easier to catch, even if they’re not always the meatiest.

 

We humans are different. We’re often out to prove something, and so,

with our fancy hunting or fishing gear, we go after the biggest and

strongest animals – the trophy bucks with bigger horns, the bears with

the best coats, or the biggest salmon or halibut.

 

In the natural order, the predator-prey relationship can ensure that

wildlife populations stay strong, as the weakest animals get culled

while the strongest and healthiest survive to pass on their genes.

 

Some hunting and harvesting done by humans has the opposite effect.

New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences shows that many of our current hunting and fishing practices

not only reduce population numbers but also cause dramatic and often

negative changes in the behaviour, size, and characteristics of

targeted species.

 

Researchers from Canadian and American universities looked at 29

earlier studies, mostly of fish but also of larger animals such as

bighorn sheep and even some plants, and found that rates of

evolutionary change were as much as three times higher in species that

are hunted and harvested by humans.

 

We’ve long known that unsustainable rates of hunting and fishing can

devastate wildlife populations and fish stocks. Just think of the

Atlantic cod fishery and the looming crisis in the Pacific salmon

fishery. Now, as the new study shows, we’re not just affecting the

numbers; we’re also having an impact on the characteristics of the

animals themselves, such as body size and the age at which they

reproduce. We have become a part of the evolutionary process, and that

has huge implications when you consider how ignorant we are about the

web of living things.

 

It’s an important issue to consider when we look at hunting and

fishing practices and regulations. When rules are overhauled to allow

hunters to take even more species of animals, we have to think hard

about what effect that may have on biodiversity and on evolution.

 

For example, the Ontario government recently posted a proposal to

radically overhaul hunting rules in Kawartha Highlands Signature Site

Park, a large protected area in the province. These changes would

expand the existing hunting season for traditional " game " species such

as black bears, and would allow hunters to kill previously protected

non-game species, such as foxes, weasels, groundhogs, porcupines,

raccoons, skunks, and a range of amphibians, common bird species such

as crow and grackle, and snapping turtles. The increased hunting

opportunities would, in turn, trigger an increase in ATV use in the

park.

 

While I don’t hunt (although I love fishing), I’m not opposed to

sustainable hunting and fishing for subsistence and even commercial

purposes. But we should be clear: the Ontario government’s proposed

hunting rules for Kawartha Highlands Park are not about putting

venison on the table. This is about expanding the human footprint

within a protected area. Doing so is hardly consistent with the park’s

stated mandate to " preserve, protect and enhance the natural

composition and abundance of native species, biological communities

and ecological processes in the Park. " I’d bet it’s also at odds with

the values of most citizens in Ontario, who believe that parks should

provide a safe haven for wildlife – especially considering that more

than 90 per cent of Ontario is already open for hunting.

 

What really steams me is that the proposed plans are at also odds with

a key principle of sustainable wildlife management: that we should

keep common species common to ensure they aren’t placed at risk in the

first place. For example, the Committee on the Status of Endangered

Wildlife in Canada, or COSEWIC, the expert and independent science

body that advises governments on species at risk, has just assessed

snapping turtles as a species of special concern. The turtles are

found within Kawartha Highlands Park and could be hunted if the new

regime is approved, even though they are particularly vulnerable to

human activities.

 

Parks like Kawartha Highlands Signature Site are an integral part of a

commitment to maintain ecological integrity. Wildlife species in

Canada are already under enormous pressure, due mainly to habitat loss

and fragmentation. We need to act in a precautionary way now to

minimize our actions that affect the ability of species to survive and

evolve.

 

Science Matters has been running weekly since 1999. To read past

columns, please visit www.davidsuzuki.org/science_matters/.

 

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