Your Phone Call Can Help Save Winnipeg's Beavers

Photo credit: The FurBearer Defenders

Dear WHS supporters,

Can you help us save beavers from being cruelly killed within our city?

Beavers are an integral part of Canada’s waterways, and are commonly associated with our country. However, when beavers choose to reside in populated areas, they can damage property, or pose a risk for flooding to occur. Currently, the City of Winnipeg is using lethal methods as a form of urban beaver management. Problem beavers are killed with firearms, or through trapping via conibear trap systems. The Winnipeg Humane Society opposes this type of wildlife animal management and we need YOU to help us get the City to use alternative approaches for this issue.

Inhumane conibear traps not only pose a major risk to both humans and pets, they also do not discriminate against any other wildlife that may fall victim to the trap. For instance, on August 3^rd 2020, a man hiking in SE Manitoba was injured after stepping onto a conibear trap intended for beavers. There is also no way to guarantee that a trap will instantly kill any caught animal, allowing for prolonged suffering before death.

Though relocation is not a viable solution, research shows that lethal methods only make way for neighbouring beavers to move into the killed animal’s territory. In fact, removing beavers increases population growth, by stimulating beavers to become sexually mature earlier in life. Beavers are not only a wilderness staple, they are also crucial for keeping ecosystems running smoothly. Beavers play a critical role in keeping wetland ecosystems symbiotic, by improving water quality and availability, ultimately resulting in large levels of local biodiversity.

For these reasons, the Winnipeg Humane Society is urging supporters to phone their city councilors, and ask that the City of Winnipeg stop killing beavers. And yes, we need you to CALL, not email or message on social media, because a phone call is the most powerful way to show our elected officials that this issue matters. Join the Winnipeg Humane Society in asking the City of Winnipeg to adopt a beaver management plan similar to countless other municipalities, where humane pond leveler systems, wire mesh, and culvert protectors are utilized, which allow for beavers and humans to co-exist peacefully. We are providing a list of phone numbers for you to call in support of our request to start using humane methods to manage beavers in Winnipeg.

With just one call, you can become a powerful advocate for Canada’s most iconic animal. Call your city councilor today and respectfully ask for an end to the killing of beavers. By learning to co-exist with beavers, we are not only protecting critical ecosystems, we are protecting a staple of our own Canadian identity.