Page 42 - Canadian Geographic

YUKON WOL VES

six magpies. There were hundreds of remembers a supervisor casually asking, launched a new wolf management plan.
dead chickadees everywhere I looked — on “Do you want to start working on The 1992 plan included some progres-
the ground and in the willow branches, wolves?” The carnivores were a hot topic sive and pro-wolf elements: for instance,
their tiny white feathers scattered like a at the time, with Whitehorse residents it asserted that wolves had an inherent
dusting of fresh snow.” concerned about incursions into their value in and of themselves — beyond
Strychnine use was restricted in their influence, positive or negative,
1972, but according to Hayes, its use on human concerns such as game
continued illegally in some quarters ‘PERIODIC, BROAD-SCALE WOLF availability or the safety of neigh-
for several years, including at the site bourhood pets. But it also legalized
he visited in 1985 (no one was ever CONTROL HAS LIMITED BENEFIT aerial wolf control as a means to
charged in that case). Hayes, a biol- TO PREY POPULATIONS, DOES protect ungulate populations for
ogy grad who had dreamed of being human hunting.
able to study wolves someday, arrived NOT LAST, AND SHOULD BE In the lead-up to the new plan,
in the territory during those years. public consultations were held
He wound up working on birds, but RELEGATED TO THE PAST.’ around the territory to determine the
was offered the position of wolf biolo- future of Yukon wolves, and tempers
gist for the Yukon government in flared. One speaker at a public meet-
1982. The job fell into his lap — he yards and subdivisions, and hunters in ing had his tires slashed. After the 1992
the Southern Lakes region of the territory plan was adopted, a large-scale aerial
upset about low moose numbers. wolf-kill program was launched in the
Eva Holland (@evaholland) has written Hayes took the job and kept it for 18 Aishihik region, near Kluane National
for The Walrus, AFAR, Grantland and years. He wound up being the face of Park and Reserve and the town of
more. Peter Mather (petermather.com) is a Yukon government wolf policy during Haines Junction. Hayes, as the govern-
widely published Fellow of the International an extremely fraught and turbulent ment’s lead wolf biologist, was respon-
League of Conservation Photographers. time. He’d been on the job for a decade sible for overseeing the program.
when, in 1992, the government Dozens of wolves were shot from

42 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC MARCH/APRIL 2018