Falkland hunter and biologist Dean Trumbley says he is “baffled and bewildered” by the recent media attention given to Alberta hunting TV show host, Steve Ecklund, over the “legal and ethical harvesting” of a cougar in east-central Alberta.
Ecklund, who hosts the outdoor show The Edge, triggered a barrage of online outrage in late December after he posted several photos of himself holding the dead cat on Facebook, prompting colleagues, fellow hunters and conservationists to come to his defence.
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WATCH
Wild TV president, Ryan Kohler defend ‘The Edge’ host Steve Ecklund
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The Morning Star sparked some outrage of its own when the article about Ecklund was later shared on the newspaper’s Facebook page. Dozens of The Morning Star’s Facebook followers reacted to the story — several of them applauding Ecklund and questioning the story’s news value. Trumbley was among those who shared his thoughts.
“I am not sure why this is even news,” Trumbley wrote on Dec.21.
“The only thing happening here, is the public and media condemning someone for doing something that our government mandates while promoting the fact that he also consumes the animal.”
He feels the media often demonizes the hunting community, deliberately using terms like “kill” rather than “harvest,” — which he argues is a more accurate way to describe the practice of hunting.
“You have this photo of a big, beautiful cat being killed by this big, bad guy. And it is a big beautiful cat, I think all animals are big and beautiful, but at the same time I understand that with those cats left unchecked, they’re not so big and beautiful when they’re absolutely decimating your ungulate populations and coming into neighbourhoods and eating your dog.”
The North Okanagan hunter and biologist, who hosts Bushnell’s Trigger Effect, says he believes photos like Ecklund’s elicit emotional responses from the public that often drive policy-makers to make emotion-based decisions instead of science-based decisions, which he feels is ultimately detrimental to animals.
Referencing the province’s recent ban on grizzly bear hunting, Trumbley said he hopes the reaction to Ecklund will act as a catalyst for the hunting community to engage more actively with both the public and politicians.
”If you peel away the hunting versus anti-hunting argument, the decision was still made at a detriment to the animals,” he said.
“That’s part of the problem with political-based decisions. Yes, there are some areas where the grizzly hunting needs to be shut down, but there are areas where they are exceeding the carrying capacity of land — and now without having the ability to regulate it’s going to start impacting not only those populations of grizzlies, but other species down the food chain.”
Trumbley encourages politicians to consider the research of conservationists and wildlife management strategists when making decisions that will impact wildlife and the hunting community.
“These bodies draw upon highly-educated specialists from internal staff, educational institutes, independent researchers, etc. to collect the best scientific information available for the development of those strategies,” he added.
“I have seen it many times when political responses, not based on science, have changed various management strategies made by some of the most brilliant minds in the research sector. The sad thing about this is the changes may benefit the politically charged issue but it is always at the detriment of nature.”
Erin Christie
Morning Star Staff
