Feral Cows and Unmanagable Deer

There are feral cows living in Naikoon Park.

Sometime in the history of the island, cows escaped from their owners and began to live in the wild. Today there are approximately 30 cows living in the park and their exisitence is one of a number of loopholes within governental regulation that evades policy or protection.

The islanders have different perspectives on the cows. Some believe that they should be hunted and shot for consumption purposes. If this were to be the fate of the cows however, this begs the question as to who will 'have' and then who will 'have not' since the number of cows to be hunted are so limited. Others want the cows to be removed because their existence as an introduced species to the island affects the local ecosystem. And of course there are those that hear about or see the wild cows and are filled with joy at the thought of their existence. (It is fascinating how unusual juxtapositions, in this case 'cows' and 'the wild', grab our fascination and affection so easily.)

If the cows are to be kept, then what kind of protections should exist? What kind of management programs should be instated? Bonnie and I went to see a presentation by a UBC student who did her term project on this issue late last week. Her project evaluated two case studies, one with bison in the US and another with horses in Canada. She basically wanted to look into what other communitities are doing to address the issue of feral animals in their environment and what precautions should be considered. Bonnie and I spotted four cows the other day - three adults and a new born. They made me smile.

There are also black tailed vermin - also read deer - that live on Haida Gwaii and need to be culled or better yet annihilated. I am now among the population of this island that is of the opinion that all the deer need to be shot, poisoned or removed by whatever means possible. To put these statements into perspective, let me explain a little about how the deer came to be here and the problems that they cause.

The deer were introduced by 'the white man' as a means to provide protein to the new residents of the island. Unfortunately, Haida Gwaii doesn't have any significant predators for the deer, and its rich forests have allowed the deer to thrive. There are now thousands of deer on the island and they can be considered nothing lest than an invasive pest. For instance, the deer are devastating the Haida Gwaii underbrush which is especially concerning because of the many native medicinal plants that once flourished as well as the potential to grow many berries or agro-products once possible. Driving to a party in Masset this weekend around dusk, we saw 50 deer along the road over a 75 km distance.

I personally dislike the deer. When I expressed this opinion with a couple of locals, I learned that a Haida Gwaii resident is allowed to shoot 30 deer a year! The problem is these deer replicate like rabbits, and what is a person supposed to do with that much meat? Throughout Canada, you are not allowed to sell hunted meat, and consequently, you or your friends and family would be responsible for eating the entire lot that you bring in. Tough situation if you ask me.