WINNIPEG – An unintentional alliance of farmers and animal activists has foiled the Manitoba government’s plan to capture up to 200 elk in the Swan River Valley.
The government wanted to use the elk to start an elk ranching industry in Manitoba.
Farmers in the valley have refused to let provincial natural resources officers on their fields to set up traps. They want the government to fully compensate them for the damage the elk have caused to their hay, fences, shelterbelts and standing grain.
Bill Barker of Kenville said until the government comes up with a better compensation package, farmers will support the boycott. Barker said farmers in other parts of the province facing similar problems are also onside.
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Give up 25 percent
“You wouldn’t take a load of grain to the elevator and accept 75 percent payment for that,” Barker said. “You would be a little ticked off if they told you … the other 25 percent was going to be fed to wildlife.”
Bob Carmichael, chief of game and fur management, said the unexpected impasse forced the department to set up traps on crown land near Duck Mountain provincial park instead.
Carmichael said the traps consist of a corral with a trip-wire to close its gate. Elk are attracted to hay inside the corral. High panels prevent them from being spooked once inside.
But Carmichael said it’s “very unlikely” even 150 elk will be captured, since most herds live on farmland. He said elk are harder to bait in warm weather because they can more easily forage for food.
Unidentified vandals and animal rights groups are also giving the department grief.
One night, a trip-wire was slashed and diesel fuel was poured around the trap site to keep animals away. Last week, someone released elk from the compound where trapped animals are held. A local group called Watchdogs for Wildlife is camping beside the corral. Six members of People Acting for Animal Liberation are traveling crown land on snowmobiles to scare elk from traps.
“Most of what we’ll be doing is strictly legal. It’s not illegal to drive a snowmobile on crown land,” said James Pearson, PAAL spokesperson.
In a phone interview from Swan River, Pearson called it “obscene” for the government to get involved in elk ranching.
“What the government’s doing is really a dangerous precedent because they’re putting a market value on something that should remain priceless.”
