By Cormorant Defenders International:
Julie Woodyer, Zoocheck: [email protected]
Barry MacKay, Born Free: [email protected]
Liz White, Animal Alliance: [email protected]
Premier Ford and his government are proposing one of the most regressive wildlife “management” decisions in Canadian history,
The proposed changes are rooted in an irrational hatred for cormorants that will fuel their persecution and drive them back to the brink of extinction, or worse, in the province. And it looks like it might not take long.
The province-wide hunting season will extend from March 15 to December 31, allowing anyone with a small game hunting license to kill up to 50 cormorants per day (1,500 per month or more than 14,000 per season).
According to the Canadian Wildlife Service 2010 count, 42,200 double-crested cormorant nests (85,000 individuals) were counted in the lower great lakes.
If only one per cent of the 197,188 small game permit holders each shot 50 cormorants, they would wipe the entire lower great lakes population in one hunting season.”
Premier Ford’s proposed attack on cormorants in Ontario would quickly lead to their extermination, destroying a species that teetered on the brink of extinction in eastern North America twice in the last 120 years. This is not wild game management and has nothing to do with protecting fish or trees: it’s nothing less than an attack on science and on compassion.”
