Killing of an Elk

I read with sadness and disgust about the elk that was shot and killed on Tuesday last week. Roads were closed, traffic diverted, humans were at risk of being shot by a stray bullet, a terrified elk the victim of the City of Ottawa. Unfortunately for the elk, the City once again let the police deal with a situation that is clearly not their area of expertise or responsibility.

The elk scenario and how it played out is not new. In 2010, a young moose was killed in Orleans because it happened to wonder into a residential area. The MNR (our wildlife expert apparently), was called but did not dispatch assistance. The priority of the police is human safety and with no support from the MNR or a City wildlife strategy to reference, they had to make the decision to shoot the moose. There was public outcry then at how poorly the situation was managed, but neither the City or MNR learned from that horrific experience (shooting the moose near an elementary school with children inside).

I am embarrassed at how ineffective our City and the MNR are when it comes to wildlife encounters in an urban setting. Wildlife organizations have tried to work with these groups to establish a Wildlife Strategy, investing many hours, to no avail. The City and MNR in their arrogance have decided not to invest in putting an updated strategy in place to manage these situations whereby the animal actually survives it's encounter with humans when it inadvertently wonders into the city.

I am sure many of us would rather have seen this beautiful, healthy animal calmed and then assisted at nightfall to return the way he came, obviously through a greenspace corridor. If wildlife organizations had been taken seriously when the Wildlife Strategy was being developed, I think many of us would have witnessed a more positive outcome to this situation. When is the City going to learn?