Some hunters in the Kitikmeot have been warning about a high number of wolves affecting caribou herds and the Government of Nunavut is studying that concern.
photo courtesy of the Government of Nunavut
A pilot project that pays $300 per wolf skull has been introduced in the region as the Department of Environment researches “what’s going on with the wolf population within the Kitikmeot,” Environment Minister Joe Savikataaq said in the legislative assembly on Feb. 21.
In response to questions from Kugluktuk MLA Mila Kamingoak, Savikataaq also acknowledged that the GN will meet with counterparts from the Government of the Northwest Territories in Kugluktuk in early April. They will discuss what can be done to bolster the Bluenose-East and the Bathurst caribou herds in that area, which are in “severe decline,” Savikataaq said.
“Currently in the Northwest Territories, the Bathurst herd cannot be hunted at all, not even by the Dene. We have a small (harvest) in Nunavut, and that is one of the options we will probably be looking at at this meeting that will be held in Kugluktuk sometime in the beginning of April,” said Savikataaq.