The goal was to shift the narrative on the province\u2019s glossy \u201cBeautiful British Columbia\u201d brand and draw attention to what campaigners call a \u201cbrutal secret.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal was to flip the province\u2019s glossy tourism brand on its head,\u201d said Natasha Wehn, project director at Pacific Wild, in a media release<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come here for wilderness and wildlife, but behind the marketing is a different story.\u201d<\/p>\n The campaign has since gone global.<\/p>\n On International Wolf Day (Aug. 13), Pacific Wild rolled out billboards in London and Berlin that paired postcard-perfect B.C. landscapes with stark images of wolves shot from helicopters.<\/p>\n The group also premiered a short film on the lawn of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, capturing shocked visitor reactions to the souvenir shop.<\/p>\n \ufeff<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not asking anyone to turn away from B.C. \u2014 we\u2019re asking them to speak up for it, because what\u2019s at stake is too important to ignore,\u201d Wehn said in the campaign\u2019s launch video on YouTube.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past decade, we\u2019ve delivered more than 500,000 signatures to the Legislature calling for an end to the wolf cull. We\u2019ve met with decision-makers, pursued legal action, and pushed for transparency and long-term solutions. Still, the killing continues.\u201d<\/p>\n The wolf cull<\/p>\n Since 2015, more than 2,100 wolves have been shot from helicopters under the province\u2019s predator reduction program, which has cost taxpayers over $10 million, according to the Pacific Wild website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conservation advisor Ian McAllister called the program \u201ca war on wolves throughout most of British Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOver this 10-year period, over 2,500 wolves have now been killed, mostly by helicopter, at the cost of over $11 million taxpayer dollars,\u201d he told Daily Hive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe B.C. government appears to have no end in sight. They want to just keep killing wolves until there are no wolves left in the Interior\u2026 and it\u2019s simply not working.\u201d<\/p>\n The cull was launched to protect endangered caribou herds, but critics argue it misses the point.<\/p>\n Habitat loss from logging, mining, oil and gas development, and recreation like heli-skiing has pushed caribou to the brink.<\/p>\n McAllister said blaming wolves is both unscientific and unethical.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fundamentally disagree that killing wolves is going to save caribou,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe research does not support it, and in the absence of protecting caribou habitat, it\u2019s immoral to be killing a species in such a cruel way. Wolves are simply being scapegoated for government negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2020 study<\/a> even found over 900 square kilometres of critical caribou habitat had been logged since 2014, despite the cull.<\/p>\n Animal welfare concerns have also drawn criticism, with wolves often chased to exhaustion in deep snow and sometimes left wounded.<\/p>\n This image, provided by Pacific Wild, documents the aftermath of B.C.\u2019s aerial wolf cull, where wolves are chased by helicopter and shot in deep snow. Since 2015, over 2,500 wolves have been killed as part of the province\u2019s predator reduction program, which critics argue ignores the root cause of caribou decline: habitat loss. (Freedom of Information\/pacificwild.org)<\/p>\n \u201cThey certainly are not a risk to humans,\u201d McAllister told Daily Hive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government just fundamentally doesn\u2019t understand the important role wolves play in ecosystem management. Wolves are absolutely essential. They\u2019ve co-evolved with caribou and other species for millennia, maintaining predator-prey balance. Instead of respecting that, they\u2019re spending millions of dollars using helicopters to kill wolves under the guise of caribou management.\u201d<\/p>\n The program has even used \u201cJudas wolves,\u201d collared animals spared to lead hunters back to their packs.<\/p>\n McAllister said Pacific Wild is now urging the province to account for the program\u2019s failures.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re asking the government to conduct an independent audit of the wolf cull,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf independent biologists reviewed the program, they would recommend it ends tomorrow. It\u2019s damaging British Columbia\u2019s international reputation and has no scientific support.\u201d<\/p>\n Growing support<\/p>\n The Brutal B.C. campaign has attracted backing from Indigenous leaders and eco-tourism operators.<\/p>\n The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs<\/a> described wolves as \u201crelatives, revered as sacred,\u201d adding, \u201cWe have coexisted with wolves for millennia and they are deeply entrenched in our lifeways and belief systems; they are part of our ceremonies, regalia, and stories. Wolves are also a keystone species whose demise creates imbalance that ripples across critical ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n A Pacific Wild billboard in Berlin confronts viewers with the message, \u201cWitness breathtaking landscapes, rugged expanses, and a government-sanctioned wolf slaughter.\u201d (Pacific Wild\/pacificwild.org)<\/p>\n Tourism operators echoed the concern that the wolf cull threatens not only wildlife but the province\u2019s global reputation.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come to British Columbia for the raw, untamed beauty of its wild places,\u201d said Colin Griffinson, owner of Pacific Yellowfin Charter<\/a>, in the news release.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter decades of guiding visitors along this coast, I\u2019ve seen firsthand how essential wolves and other wildlife are to the magic of this place. This cull isn\u2019t just a tragedy for the animals \u2014 it\u2019s a threat to the identity and economy of our province.\u201d<\/p>\n Tourism brought in $22 billion in 2023 and supported more than 125,000 jobs.<\/p>\n Campaigners argue that allowing wolves to be gunned down while logging continues in caribou habitat not only puts wildlife at risk, but also damages B.C.\u2019s reputation abroad.<\/p>\n For Pacific Wild, the goal is to end the wolf cull and protect the wild places that make British Columbia what it is.<\/p>\n Pacific Wild asks those who wish to take action to visit its website for resources<\/a>\u00a0or contact Premier David Eby\u2019s office directly at 250-387-1715.<\/p>\n![\"B.C.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-16-at-3.43.08\u202fPM-scaled.png\")
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