The bitter taste left by the controversial slaying of an elk in Centretown earlier this month is raising questions about the strategy that the City of Ottawa uses in dealing with wildlife conflicts.
The male elk wandered into a grassy area next to the Bayview O-Train station in the early morning on Oct. 8 and left Ottawa Police, NCC staff and onlookers stunned at the sight of the large animal near the downtown core.
After many hours during which it was decided that NCC staff could not get close enough to tranquilize the animal effectively, the animal was shot dead. The outcome stirred confusion and anger among many of those watching the drama unfold.
Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre director Donna Dubreuil condemned the elk-shooting.
“This has happened with the city before and many times, I think, we expect the city is going to better the next time. But they don’t. This was an opportunity for Ottawa to do it right and it didn’t.”
The shooting of the elk came only months after city council implemented a new wildlife strategy in July to deal with such large-mammal conflicts.
Dubreuil helped lead a petition when the city implemented its new wildlife strategy and expressed concern that the report would be handled by the rural and agricultural committee which, she said, had nothing to do with urban wildlife issues.
The plan, initiated in 2010 to help deal with beaver and increasing coyote populations around the National Capital Region, yielded numerous recommendations as to how the city should deal with biodiversity and wildlife conflicts.
In April 2013, a draft report outlined the need for a specific “Wildlife Resource Officer” – or biologist – to deal with ecological issues around Ottawa.
The report stated that “effective implementations of the recommendations in the wildlife strategy cannot happen without a dedicated staff position” and “the creation of a Wildlife Biologist position appears justified by the size of the city’s natural areas, the diversity of the challenged, and public interest and concern for wildlife issues.”
The position, however, was deferred in the July final draft for discussion until 2014 while the city monitors the results of other approved recommendations in the report such as an “Urban Wildlife Speaker Series,” primary school wildlife programs to be presented at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, and updated protocols for growth and planning management in Ottawa.
Currently, the city does not have a specific position
Instead it relies on authorities on the scene or experts ranging from a variety of departments – such as the NCC, which oversees biodiversity and conservation around the Ottawa/Gatineau region along with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, which manages ecology on crown property – and outside agencies “who may incidentally possess some experience and expertise” outside of their job descriptions, the report said.
Would a specific city biologist officer have helped in the elk incident? Neither city officials or the Ottawa Police provided a clear answer.
Courtney Ferguson, a media manager with the city, explained the general role of the potential biologist.
“The Wildlife Resource Officer position is intended to reduce human-wildlife conflicts over the long term by implementing public information campaigns as well as projects aimed at reducing conflicts involving beavers and coyotes.”
Ottawa Police spokesman Const. Chuck Benoit reinforced the mandate for public safety first by officers at the scene.
“It happened and the decision was made so I can’t go back and be an armchair quarterback and saying, ‘It would’ve been better this way or that way.’ At the time, a decision was made for certain reasons, and we can’t go back on that.”
The issue, for Dubreuil, was not whether a biologist officer would have helped, but rather the city’s attitude to wildlife conflicts.
Dubreuil says he thought that the way that Ottawa Police allowed numerous spectators to hang around the elk to snap pictures elevated the stress of the animal,
“That’s creating some of the panic too when you have people standing around taking pictures. That creates a lot of the problems.”
Dubreuil said that deferring the Wildlife Resource Officer position in the final report only allowed the city to keep doing what it has always been doing with wildlife issues,
“Ottawa has a very warped attitude, I think, when it comes to how they deal with wildlife but I think it’s more and more increasingly out-of-step with public opinion.”
Noting that elk are most active in-between dusk and dawn, Dubreuil suggested, that perhaps, the police should have waited until night-time when there were less spectators and the elk may have moved away from the city.