Cape Breton Highlands moose cull not needed, says hunting guide

A hunting guide in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park wants Parks Canada to cancel a moose cull planned for November because he says there's no need for it.

Dennis Day of Dingwall says heavy snow in the park last winter took a severe toll on the moose population and led many of them to starve.

"All their vegetationthat they would eat was buriedand [there was] just so much snow, they were suffering, trying to get through it," he said.

"It was a sad winter for the moose, very sad."

Day says peoplewho commute through the area used to see a few moose each day, but that has changed.

"Now, you're lucky if you see one every two weeks," he said.

Day said he guided 12 hunting parties this seasonin an area known asZone 1, which isat the extreme northern tip of Cape Breton on North Mountain.

He said all the parties were successful, but they had to hunt in areas outside of Day's usual spots because the moose were so scarce.

The reason behind the moose cull

Moose eat young tree saplings and last fall, Parks Canada proposed the cull as part of a multi-year plan tohelp the forest regenerate.

On itswebsite, Parks Canada has outlined the elements of the project. It proposes to reduce the moose population in a 20-square kilometre area by 90 per cent and it says that doingthis will allow the forest to regenerate on its own.

In 2012, Parks Canada signed a deal to giveaboriginal hunters first access to moose whenever there is a "hyperabundance" of the population.

Mi'kmaq hunters will be allowed to take as many as 40 moose on North Mountain this year and next year.

This fall's hunt istentatively scheduled tostartin the second week of November.