Page 1 Preview: PREDATOR VS. PREY (King of the Mountain)
The extinction debate
After spending a good portion of my life living and working in the mountains of British Columbia, I feel the need to share some of my views on the balance between predator and prey. I challenge the opinions of some environmental groups and the harm they are caus ing the ungulate (hoofed mammal) populations. They often appear to side with the predators, and seem oblivious to the suffering of the victims, despite the proof of the slaughtering that goes on in the woods by wolves and grizzlies.
No doubt it is time to have a serious, sensible dialogue about wildlife, but in order to do that we have to have some facts. Some people believe our forests were teeming with large animals when the caucasians arrived on this continent. But the truth is, aside from bi son that covered the plains by the millions, many areas were almost devoid of big game.
When the Overlanders came down the Fraser River in 1862, they found nothing along this pristine river in the line of big game. They were forced to eat whatever they found: chipmunks, birds, porcupines and even skunks. They were at the edge of starvation when they hit civilization at Fort George and Quesnel. Unknown to them, there were caribou higher up in the mountains, but the travellers were so weakened by their trying journey they didn't have the strength to climb up there even if they had known.
One of the problems was that there was virtually no feed for big game in the solid stands of forest I grew up in, aside from lichen that
One of the problems was that there was virtually no feed for big game in the solid stands of forest I grew up in, aside from lichen that... [continued on page 2]
