Outlook

What is Ontario doing to help conserve wolf populations?

For More Information:

Wolves in Ontario

Historic approach

 

Many early European settlers in North America viewed the wolf as a threat to public safety, as competitors for large game species (such as deer and moose) and as predators of domestic livestock. To encourage wolf harvest, there were no restrictions on harvesting and the province paid a bounty on wolves from 1793 until 1972. After the bounty was revoked, wolf conservation fell under the Game and Fish Act (now the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act). The act provides the authority to regulate harvest through licences, seasons and limits.

 

Current approach

Howling wolf
Figure 4. Howling wolf.
 

Ontario currently uses various techniques to help conserve wolf populations and the prey and habitat upon which wolves depend. Such methods include:

 

Strategy for Wolf Conservation in Ontario: In 2005, Ontario announced the strategy for wolf conservation which outlines three key objectives:

 

  • Ensure ecologically sustainable wolf populations
  • Provide for social, cultural and economic benefits based on ecologically sustainable wolf populations
  • Increase public awareness and understanding about the role of wolves in natural functioning ecosystems and the need for their conservation in Ontario.

 

Initiatives under the strategy include:

  • new wolf/coyote hunting regulations (effective in 2005) within the core range of Ontario's wolves (Figure 1). The regulations included:
    • a closed season (a period during the year when wolf hunting/trapping is not permitted)
    • the requirement of a wolf/coyote game seal to hunt (a seal is a special tag that is attached to the wolf/coyote as soon as the animal is killed)
    • mandatory reporting of hunting effort, wolves harvested by hunters and wolves killed by landowners in protection of property (trappers have been required to report their harvests since the 1998/99 trapping season)
  • research to better determine the distribution of the gray wolf, eastern wolf and coyote, and to better understand the interbreeding among these species
  • assessment of wolf abundance using aerial surveys
  • studies to improve our knowledge of the ecology of wolves in different habitats, and to better understand the impact of wolves on prey species such as moose
  • evaluation of how protected areas influence wolf populations.

 

The details of this initiative can be found in the Strategy for Wolf Conservation in Ontario (PDF).

 

For further information on hunting regulations for wolves/coyotes, consult Ontario's Hunting Regulations Summary.

 

Management Strategy for the Wolves of Algonquin Provincial Park:
A number of conservation actions were introduced in and around Algonquin Provincial Park in 2001. They included a research and monitoring program, and a prohibition on hunting and trapping of wolves in the townships around the park.

 

Eastern Wolf Status Designation:
The eastern wolf was added to the list of Species at Risk in Ontario with a status of “special concern” in 2004, encouraging better monitoring of their populations. Further details about Ontario's species at risk can be found on the Species at Risk website.

 

Forest Management Planning:

Forest management is governed by the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, which, under its regulated manuals, directs conservation of biodiversity through forest management guides. Please consult the Ontario's Forests website for further information regarding forest management planning in Ontario and the forest management guides.

 

 

What Can You Do to Help with Wolf Conservation? 

 

The public can contribute to wolf conservation in Ontario by:

  • respecting hunting and trapping regulations for both wolves and their prey (deer, moose, beaver)
  • reporting hunting effort and hunting and trapping harvests
  • reporting wolves that have been killed in the protection of property/livestock.

 

 

Information Sources

 

The information provided in this document is based on the Backgrounder for Wolf Conservation in Ontario, legislation, data provided by hunters and trappers and expert opinion.

 

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