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作者：馬修．連恩
譯者：Jessica
「馴鹿保護計畫」說穿了就是「獵殺狼群計畫」。
1992開始進行，根據調查結果，預計要殺掉一部分狼群。目的是要增加馴鹿和麋鹿的數量可供人類獵殺。
正當獵殺計劃進行的同時，才發現狼群數量遠少於原先所估計。數量的減少很有可能是因為錯誤的估算，或者因為狼群已經遷移到馴鹿和麋鹿數量更多的地區等等（馴鹿數量也就會自然增加）。無論如何，育空政府當局部非但沒有停止計畫，反而繼續按照計劃進行射殺。
很顯然計劃本身就是一大禍害。
經過無數人的努力，以及《狼》專輯的發行以及加拿大巡迴演唱之後，各地環保意識逐漸提升，育空當局因此取消計畫，但是卻無法挽回大量被獵殺的狼群以及生態系統所受到的嚴重破壞。
類似的計畫在阿拉斯加地區仍然可見，但是育空政府目前寧願著重狼群的保育。目前獵狼的情形已經相當少見，同時目前我仍然持反對立場。計劃本身用意是為人類著想，不過我相信為了要滿足人類獵殺的需求來射殺狼群同時干擾生態，實在沒有必要。 |
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by Matthew Lien
The Caribou Enhancement Program was a fancy name for a
wolf kill program.
When the program commenced in 1992, they intended to
kill a percentage of wolves based on previously conducted air surveys.
This was to allow the caribou populations to increase, so human hunters
could have more caribou and moose to hunt. When the planes went in to
find and shoot the percentage of wolves, they were surprised that there
were much fewer wolves than they had expected. This may have been the
result of their own poor calculations, or because many wolves may had
already moved to other areas with more caribou and moose (which would
allow the caribou population to increase naturally). Regardless of the
reason, rather than withdrawing the program and studying the matter
further, the Yukon Government continued, shooting every wolf they could
find to try and reach their previously determined kill numbers.
This was obviously a disastrous program.
After much opposition, and the release of my album
"Bleeding Wolves" and the Canadian concert tour to raise awareness about
this program, the Yukon Government cancelled the program... but not
until many wolves were killed, causing great damage to the ecosystem.
Such wolf kill program still occur in Alaska, but the
Yukon Government now prefers a wolf sterilization program.This is still
happening, but very minimally, and I continue to oppose such programs.
It may seem more humane, but I believe it is still needless tampering
with nature, simply to allow human hunters a greater chance at killing
caribou and moose by eliminating the competition... the wolf.
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