American pop star Miley Cyrus was in B.C. last weekend, lending her voice – spoken and sung – to the fight against the province’s wolf cull.
The five-year plan, aimed to protect the number of caribou herds by killing its hunters, was responsible for 84 wolf deaths in B.C. in its first year.
“The program to shoot wolves from the air was a last resort after targeted hunting and trapping of wolves proved inadequate, sometimes splitting up wolf packs and increasing predation of caribou,” reported Tom Fletcher, in his first year summary for Black Press, published in April.
And Cyrus was in B.C. to protest the program in-person, after first publishing her disapproval with the wolf cull on her Instagram page last week (photo below). The singer met with a “local wildlife conservationist” group called Pacific Wild, and spent two days meeting with other opponents of the plan.
She didn’t see any wolves on her trip however, said Pacific Wild’s director.
“When I first spoke out, I knew in my heart that the wolf cull was wrong,” said Cyrus, in a press release issued by Pacific Wild. “But after this visit, I know science is on my side, not just on the wolf cull, but also on the trophy hunt issue. Both are unsustainable and both are horrific. Both have to end.”
In the same release, Pacific Wild says it opposes the government’s wolf cull because it is “ineffective” and avoids “the real issue – habitat loss”.
On Saturday, Cyrus also went on a tour of the Great Bear Rainforest with Spirit Bear Adventures and Spirit Bear Lodge, adventuring through Kitasoo/Xaixais territory and specifically to the community of Klemtu.
The 84 wolves killed by the province’s cull were from another region of the province entirely – 11 were killed in the South Selkirk mountains and 73 were killed in the South Peace region.
“I may have left B.C. for now but my heart is still very much there,” Cyrus wrote, in an Instagram post Monday. “On this adventure something was confirmed that us lovers of nature and all that it brings to this planet already know but unfortunately so many don’t understand… WE ARE THESE ANIMALS.”
Cyrus’s mission echoes that of another celebrity, B.C.’s own Pamela Anderson, who has called the wolf cull a “very cowardly way to hunt.” Anderson also backed up Cyrus for her environmental aim: “Someone in her position doesn’t necessarily have to care about the environment,” said Anderson. “And the fact that she’s passionate about something else (other than herself) is such a great role model to kids.”
B.C. Premier Christy Clark already responded to Cyrus earlier in September, saying, “If we need help on our tweaking policy in the future, perhaps we can go and seek her advice.”
Her reply to both Cyrus and Anderson: “Both Pamela Anderson and Miley Cyrus, when they open up their closets, they probably don’t find a lot of clothes.”
She added: “We’re trying to defend an endangered species and population of caribou that will go utterly extinct in British Columbia if we don’t do this… I just hope that they really work a little to understand the issue.” (Clark quotes via CTV News)
The B.C. government went forward with a similar helicopter-conducted wolf cull in the 1980s, but it was shut down due to public outcry and pressure from protestors.
VIDEO: Miley Cyrus sings ‘The Challenge Song’ while visiting B.C. and Spirit Bear Lodge
Photos of Miley Cyrus, brother Braison in B.C.
(Credit below to April Bencze and Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild)
