VANCOUVER With a mink on another B.C. farm testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 this week, a growing a list of an animal welfare advocates have banded together to demand that the B.C. government ban mink farms in the province. The BC SPCA, The Humane Society International, The Fur-Bearers and The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs have joined the call first introduced in a letter written by infectious disease experts in March. It is at the point that anything less than a total ban would be the B.C. government putting private interest ahead of public health, said Kelly Butler of Humane Society International, Canada.
The fallow deer were introduced on neighbouring James Island in 1902 by the owner at the time as prey for hunting parties. The spotted deer with impressive antlers invaded Sidney Island in the early 1960s, when ponds were dug and the first standing fresh water became available to sustain them. Their numbers grew to the thousands in the 1980s, causing Sidney Island’s Garry oak meadows, Douglas firs and dozens of native plant species to suffer or disappear. Although controlled hunting and periodic culls over the years have reduced their numbers to an estimated 400 to 500, serious steps are now in the works for a final roundup to destroy all remaining stock. It would likely happen in the fall of 2022, after details of the method of killing have been determined and a consensus with stakeholders reached.
To restore Sidney Islandâs ecology, a push to kill hundreds of fallow deer A coalition of First Nations, property owners and Parks Canada is planning a âfinal eradicationâ of the invasive species that will see up to 500 of the animals rounded up and killed.
Author of the article: Darron Kloster  â¢Â Victoria Times Colonist
Publishing date: May 17, 2021  â¢Â 3 hours ago  â¢Â 4 minute read  â¢Â Fallow deer were introduced on neighbouring James Island in 1902 by the owner at the time as prey for hunting parties, and moved to Sidney Island in the early 1960s, when ponds were dug and the first standing fresh water became available to sustain them. Photo by PARKS CANADA /Times Colonist
Letter: Open Letter to Minister Conroy thenelsondaily.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenelsondaily.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
by Letters to the editor on Tuesday Feb 16 2021
An Open Letter to Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Katrine Conroy:
Dear Minister Conroy,
Congratulations on your appointment as Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. We hope you will usher in considerable change from the former destructive practices of that Ministry.
We also thank you for your willingness to “close the loopholes” that allowed the trapping of wolves on Vancouver Is-land. New legislation is definitely needed, and we appreciate your prompt recognition of this.
However, your statement quoted in the Times Colonist, that you will “be working with the B.C. Wildlife Federation and BC Trappers Association to change the regulations”, has caused serious consternation across the environmental movement, which represents thousands of British Columbians. Surely your Ministry would not select only two interes