Photo Credit: Trish Boyum Nature PhotographyHunting organizations distorted opposition to trophy hunting, painting it as emotionally motivated and scientifically invalid, but this opposition is firmly founded in science. It is both ethically and morally wrong to...
Recent Essays
There is a commonly held assumption that if an animal has become “habituated” to humans (no longer afraid of them), the only option is lethal removal. But the behaviour of individual coyotes that are very persistent in accessing resources and willing to tolerate human proximity can still be effectively reshaped.
Farmers are numerous and they vote. Both bears and beavers have a notoriously poor record when it comes to showing up on polling days, their turn out being even lower than that of young people.
Claiming scientific impartiality in wildlife management is an illusion. Preferences, biases, and emotions inform the mindsets of all the actors, regardless of their position. The question is not who is driven by objective science and who is not, but rather whose values and beliefs deserve greater consideration.
We are numb to numbers. In the aftermath of a tragedy, it is the fate of the individual not the scale of suffering that elicits compassion and mobilizes us into action.
Black bears can be both a thrilling and feared presence in urban neighbourhoods. In the vast majority of cases, the risk that they pose to the public does not warrant lethal management.
Current conservation policies are driven by irrational fears, reluctance to inconvenience ourselves in co-existence with nature, and resistance to challenging the status quo.