BOW VALLEY – A controversial wolf killing bounty and contest in Alberta is generating howls of protest from conservationists.
The Alberta Trappers Association, in partnership with Alberta Professional Outfitters Society, is offering rewards of $5,000 for the top wolf killed, $3,500 for second prize and $2,000 for third prize, along with a bounty of $250 per wolf.
Canmore conservationist and wildlife photographer John Marriott has launched a campaign against this contest, which began on Oct. 1 and runs until March 31, 2025, and places no limits on how many wolves are killed across the province.
“How archaic are wildlife management regulations in Alberta and just how free-flowing are they for something like this to happen?” said Marriott, co-founder of Exposed Wildlife Conservancy.
“You can imagine some beautiful white wolf is going to get killed and submitted and win the top prize, or some gorgeous black wolf.”
No one from the Alberta Trappers Association (ATA) was immediately available for comment, but the association’s website indicates the Alberta ungulate enhancement program and contest aim to “enhance ungulate populations.”
“The ATA is requesting that any licensed trapper in Alberta not participating in the existing ATA wolf management program associated with the provincial caribou recovery program support this important initiative by increasing their efforts in wolf management,” said ATA president Bill Abercrombie.
Abercrombie said it is also critical that trappers complete a logbook even if no wolves are trapped.
“Where wolves are not captured is as important to the scientific database as where they are captured,” he said.
“Trapper data is a critical component of this program. The success of this program is extremely important to all trappers in Alberta.”
A spokesperson for Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said this is not a government of Alberta program; however, it does fall within legal parameters for trapping and hunting predator species.
“Trapping wolves has been a longstanding wildlife management technique used in Alberta and other jurisdictions,” said Alexandru Cioban, Loewen’s press secretary in an emailed statement.
“This practice is sometimes vital for protecting vulnerable species, such as caribou, by helping to manage rapidly growing predator populations that can impact their survival.”
However, conservationists say the argument that wolf killing is a necessary tool for wildlife management like this is not supported by current science.
Marriott said there is no science, wildlife biology or ethics behind the program.
“This is all a false premise to increase ungulate numbers under the assumption that these trappers and guides want to be able to kill more deer, elk, moose, sheep and goats themselves,” he said.
“From science, from the studies that have been done, killing wolves randomly like this with trapping, with hunting, does not actually increase ungulate populations.”
Marriott said there are an estimated 1,632 trap lines across Alberta, plus those on private lands.
He said the contest and bounty give trappers a financial incentive to kill more wolves because it is currently not economically viable for most trappers to be out working the trap lines.
“It’s a recreational hobby, and the average trapper in Alberta makes less than $1,000 a year on their trapline,” Marriott said.
“So this is trying to incentivize them to get back out on the trap line and kill more stuff.”
In Alberta, a trapping licence is easy to get and requires the completion of a weekend course and a $20 fee.
Once licensed, trappers can trap on registered fur management areas or private land.
“You’re basically putting the management of our wildlife, of our furbearers, in the hands of people that have done a weekend-long course on how to trap,” Marriott.
In Alberta, there are no limits on wolf trapping.
Recently, the Alberta government also removed furbearer trapping limits for the 2024-25 season in most zones for other species like fisher, river otter and at-risk wolverines and lynx. A zero harvest remains in only a couple of trapping zones, but for lynx and wolverines in zones where they don’t even live.