Wolves are incredible. They're smart, agile and have a strong family dynamic. They're what's referred to as a "Keystone Species", meaning without them, the rest of the ecosystem will not be healthy. You've probably never seen one in the wild. Wolves are afraid of people and stay away from us, with good reason. We're pretty dangerous.
My name is Andrew Budziak and I'm a documentary filmmaker. Earlier this year I got a tip that something bad was happening to wolves in Alberta so I went to investigate. What I found was horrifying. The Alberta government is using a highly lethal poison called strychnine to kill wolves. The reasoning for doing this? They say they want to help caribou numbers which are in decline. All of the conservation experts we spoke to told us something similar: wolves are not the biggest danger to caribou - habitat destruction from oil and logging is the real threat. In order to keep oil and gas happy, the Alberta government has decided to quietly kill wolves instead.
This wolf poison program has been going on for over a decade and has killed hundreds of wolves. But the killing doesn't stop at wolves. Other animals that feed on the dead wolves die as well. We have evidence of dead ravens, foxes, coyotes, owls and even grizzly bears.
While we were investigating in Alberta we found a tremendous amount of death. At one poison site alone we found bones, feathers and carcasses littering the forest floor. This site was supposed to be closed and cleaned up by March. We were there more than a half year later and there was still signs of death everywhere. This was only one of nearly thirty poison sites that were active this year.
This story doesn't stop in Alberta. The permit for strychnine comes from Health Canada in Ottawa. Any province can apply to use strychnine in this way. Even provinces that have banned the poison can change their minds. It's up to Ottawa to create a federal ban on the use of this poison on wildlife.
Right across Canada we are seeing provincial governments chipping away at environmental laws and norms. Climate change, habitat destruction and programs like this are only getting worse and provincial governments are doing very little to help sustain ecosystems.
How You Can Help
We need your help finishing this documentary. We want to expose what's going on and ask Ottawa why they continue to allow this to happen. Your support will allow us to do a number of things to strengthen this story. We want to bring on a few helping hands in the form of producers and editors to ensure this documentary is as powerful as possible. We know that this story can change the situation for wolves in Alberta and we need your help to make sure that happens.
We know that storytelling can change the world. And we want you to drive that change.
About Andrew Budziak
Andrew is a documentary film maker based in Toronto. He has produced stories on polar bears, wolves, moose, peregrine falcons and the people who fight to keep those animals safe. Andrew is a former CBC television and radio producer and reporter. His storytelling has taken him around the world from Pakistan to Japan and from Hinton, Alberta to Etobicoke, Ontario. Andrew lives in Toronto with his wife and their one and a half year old son who proudly makes over ten different animal noises.
Risks and challenges
Documentaries require a lot of resources. Research, travel, accommodations, crew costs, editing, music, colour and distribution all add up to a pretty major expense. That's why we need your help to get this documentary finished.Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
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