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The population of three mountain caribou herds in the South Peace region has risen by 49 per cent just four years into an experimental wolf cull program, according to a new analysis released by the provincial government.

Based on those findings, the report concludes “it is highly recommended that wolf reduction continue to be implemented” until the herds are self-sustaining.

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The recovery of the South Peace population is also cited in a proposal for a two-year emergency predator reduction program to halt and reverse the decline of the Tweedsmuir-Entiako and Itcha-Ilgachuz herds in central B.C. east of Bella Coola, and the Hart Ranges herd near the Alberta border.

The government has just completed a stakeholder consultation on the emergency proposal from the B.C. Caribou Recovery Program, but it has not yet been approved, according to the ministry of forests.

The proposal calls for more than 80 per cent of wolves in critical caribou habitat be eliminated using a combination of radio-collaring and aerial shooting. It recommends a population density of fewer than three wolves per 1,000 square kilometres.