Statement
September 16, 2021

Enforcement of Provincial Law and Stronger Preventative Measures Needed in Light of Coyote Cull at Stanley Park

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – September 16, 2021) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is greatly saddened and concerned by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development’s (FLNRORD) announcement of a Stanley Park-wide coyote cull and its plans to trap and kill up to 35 coyotes within the next two weeks.

The current coyote situation at Stanley Park was avoidable and the UBCIC notes that the Vancouver Parks Board and other governing bodies disregarded or missed critical opportunities to prevent a coyote cull, including ignoring concerns raised months ago by the Fur-Bearers and experts about the lack of signage in the park warning that feeding wildlife is against provincial law, the lack of wildlife-resistant garbage containers, and the total lack of the enforcement of BC Wildlife Act 1 Section 33.1 that states that a person cannot intentionally feed dangerous wildlife.

Thousands of British Columbians have signed a petition to halt the coyote cull and UBCIC joins many concerned members of the public in calling on the Province and the City of Vancouver to work with wildlife biologists and experts to identify aggressive individual coyotes rather than killing all of them, to enforce the BC Wildlife Act, and to pass a Park Board bylaw that prohibits the feeding of wildlife within the park, including stationing Park Rangers in the park who have the authority to ticket people found violating the bylaw. UBCIC continues to advance strong principles of conservation and stewardship that are outlined in UBCIC’s hunting mandate and UBCIC Resolution 2021-05; we urge the Province and the City to uphold these values and learn from Indigenous cultural practices and teachings that foster and prioritize respectful, sustainable relationships with animals and the ecosystems we all co-exist in.

-30-

Media inquiries

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, 250-490-5314
Chief Don Tom, Vice-President, 250-813-3315
Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer, c/o 778-866-0548 

UBCIC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

For more information please visit www.ubcic.bc.ca

Download PDF