- Torre nant eee pres neem

‘ Columbia.

”. . Repeatedly,

HE

"By ALANIAY Oe

VICTORIA (uPQ) A

dark, menacing shape with
eyes like-coals and ferocious’
teeth -bared for the’ kill;
stalking: its,
victim’ “through ‘the ‘moonlit
trees as, far dway,; members
_ of-its pack howl with gleeful

-come. |

_ Anticipation” ‘pf the feast to.

This - is “how most | ‘people -
,see the Canadian timber

wolf, chiefly because this is
how the animal is usually
ayed in novels, movies

‘and television dramas.

It is also why the majority
of British Columbians ac-
cepted almost with in-
difference a proposal by the

_ provincial government
earlier this year to allow
: organized, widespread

poisoning of wolf-packs in-
the interior of- British

If the average . British

Columbian thought about
the proposal at all on his way
to the office, it-was in the
Context of putting down a
mad dog, or killing a wild
‘animal gone berserk, to

protect property and save
= life. SO ,

government
animal-control. _ experts
defended ‘the “decision to
allow poisoning ‘to control
the wolf-population. But

home | found

‘MOSCOW (UPD - - Out of the

waters of the Latvian lake of

_Arayshu has emerged the

almost completely’ preserved

_ ancient fortress of Latgals,

the Tass
reported,

news agency

The fortified settlement,
home of the ancestors of

modern-day Latvians, was’

discovered by aqualung

divers who spotted strange.

towers and. battlements on
the lake floor.

crease the price per pound

tacking the

-defenceless -

- and farms in the interior.

_is the oldest

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_ they fought a losing battle
for .newspaper headlines

with outraged protests from.

environment

wholesale slaughter and the

After bitter. < controversy,
the environmentalists won. ‘a
temporary victory.

Last month, Environment.

Minister Rafe Mair withdrew
a blanket permit to poison

wolves in selected areas of

the province } issued earlier to

~ the B.C. Fish and Wildlife
Branch and agreed to allow a~

public debate on the issue.

-. What will probably be the —
final round in the battle for

the survival of the wolf will
be fought at a two-day public
hearing Oct. 23. ;

‘With a total of 17 en-
vironment groups ready and
eager to do battle to save the
wolves, and the government
equally prepared to defend
its position with a small army
of. wildlife experts and, a
volume of statistics, the fur

is expected to fly in an all- |

out teeth-and-claws final
confrontation. i.
The government has

always contended that —
poisoning is necessary to —
protect livestock on ranches

groups at:
proposal as

Last year, a. survey by Fish

and. Wildlife officers showed
_ that wolves.killed:or mauled
31 cows, 77. calves, 22 sheep,

four lambs, four goats and il

_ horses. ae
government. as ‘bureaucratic -_
:, killers. -

wi Te
on *

There were “an estimated .

6,000 wolves roaming the
province ‘at. that time; the

_- survey said, adding that a
total of 200 wolves were

poisoned in a controlled
program..Mair said he had

authorized. poisoning “only if —

shooting. by © authorized

ministry personnel proved

impossible.”

But more than 600 wolves :

were killed by trappers and

_ hunters in the same period,

the survey’showed.

Ranchers and. farmers,
understandably, demanded a
program to exterminate the
wolf completely. En-
vironment protestors, not
usually noted for the extent
of their research.or the
factual accuracy of their
protests, immediately ac-

cus¢d, the ministry of at-

tempting to “wipe ‘out the
wolf”.

In 1973, they - claimed,
there were. 23,000 wolves in

British Columbia, but in

1976, the wolf population

had dropped to 7,000. This
made the wolf. an en-

dangered species and in
need = of
protection, they said.

They also pointed out that -
the United States has a

widespread predator
problem, but the use of

government

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At the request of ar-

chacologists of the Latvian -

Academy of Sciences, the
lake was drained and the
fortress emerged with ar-
ticles made of wood, leather,
birch bark, and even
foodstuffs preserved by the
centuries of layers of silt,
Tass said last week.
According to specialists,
the so-called “Lake Temple”
and best-
preserved settlement ‘ever
discovered in Eastern

Europe.

Grade A

$7.39 Ib.

Wockes Works Woks Wes Is rs,

‘poison has: been banned for

many years. Ontario, also,

has banned the.use of poison —
_ to control predators...

All these oft-repeated
arguments will doubtless be
heard all over again when

‘the public hearings begin.

When. it is all over. but the

‘doubting, the minister will

have to decide. whether or
not setting poisoned traps is
an acceptable method of
killing wolves in British
Columbia.

SONNE
= SS

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