Caribou numbers up 49 per cent after four-year wolf cull

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The population of three mountain caribou herds in the South Peace region has risen by 49 per cent just four years into an experimental wolf cull program, according to a new analysis released by the provincial government.

Based on those findings, the report concludes “it is highly recommended that wolf reduction continue to be implemented” until the herds are self-sustaining

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/caribou-numbers-up-49-per-cent-after-four-year-wolf-cull

Related government study:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/wildlife-wildlife-habitat/caribou/south_peace_caribou_recovery_following_five_years_of_experimental_wolf_reduction.pdf

Cheers,
Nog
 
As with all things, the wolf cull is just one piece of the equation. It is a controversial topic, so gets the most attention, but is not the whole story.
The maternal penning project is helping by putting some pregnant cows into a pen where they are safe from predation, so that they can calve and raise their calves in safety, but are also fed so that they have proper nutrition until they are released in July. The calves are strong and healthy enough to be able to escape most predators under normal circumstances by then. The local herd has grown from about 60 to almost 100 strong in the last 5 years.
Oil and gas development is only a part of the industrial disturbance that has affected the caribou habitat, but gets the most bad rap. Forestry, mining and hydroelectric dams have had significant impacts on the habitat and ecosystems as well.
The WAC Bennet Dam built in the late 60's-early 70's has had the greatest impact on the caribou herds. The large reservoir created Williston Lake, where the valleys flooded were not logged prior to the flooding. Those trees came loose from the bottom of the reservoir and popped up, lining the shores for hundreds of kms so that the caribou could not enter/exit the waters on their migration routes from wintering to summer calving grounds along the Rocky Mtns. Many that made it into the water and swam across could not get out of the water and drowned. Then as the years (decades) went by, the erosion of the wind and waves on the shorelines eroded the shorelines of the silt laden soils (from this area once being an inland sea) to the point that many kms of shoreline are now steep cliffs or banks that no animals can make it up/down to get into or out of the water. This effectively stopped the migration of the herds of caribou here that once numbered in the thousands. Generations later (for the caribou) they have lost their knowledge of the migration trails and the scent trails of the thousands of caribou migrating along trails that existed for thousands of years, to the point that they no longer know the routes, or can find them. The dam also created a new micro-climate that did not exist here before, by increasing the areas natural humidity levels, amounts of snowfall and ambient temperatures.
Large blocks of timber were cleared by logging. At first these were smaller blocks that had smaller impacts on the environment. Then came the pine beetle. The subsequent logging practices of huge blocks of clearcut has completely cleared whole valleys and reduced the amount of escape cover and prime bedding areas. Not to mention create significant erosion issues and sedimentation of streams and rivers, and the drying up of smaller drainages, streams and tributaries that were once protected by the shade of the forests.
Then you add the changing of the landscape by large mine sites that disrupt or destroy what is left of shortened migration routes for the herds that are trapped south of the Williston Lake reservoir and their prime winter and calving areas and it leaves little area left for them to survive and raise their young in. Add the long sight corridors created by seismic lines, pipelines, and hydro transmission lines and you set up the perfect storm for predators to sight their prey and then easily run them down. These right of ways are planted with agronomic seed mixes, which replace native plant species with high protein plants such as timothy, clover and alfafa which attract the ungulates to them to feed on the higher nutrient foods, thus concentrating them in areas for the predators to hunt them more effectively.
Replanting these lines with native grass species instead of agronomic mixes that do not attract the ungulates will help rebalance the predator/prey equations, along with putting in lines of shrubs and bushes or making doglegs in the lines when built, that will disrupt the long line of sight runs on these lines, will limit how far the predators can see their prey from. Limiting the size of logging blocks and implementing better management of wildlife patches and riparian zones, and erosion control measures will help protect the environment and water quality, to better restore the balanced ecosystems quicker than current practices are doing. Using more underground mining practices will disturb less of the environment and valuable migration routes and wintering/calving grounds.
These are challenging issues when trying to balance with resource extraction and creating economic development and much needed jobs. But we need to do it in a more sustainable and responsible manner.
 
As with all things, the wolf cull is just one piece of the equation. It is a controversial topic, so gets the most attention, but is not the whole story.
.
It is never simple is it? Thank you for this well written and thoughtful explanation. The only other activity that you didn't mention is the increased popularity mountain snowmobilers. I would guess that this also has an impact on wildlife and caribou in particular?
 
While any disturbance is not a plus the area where the Mountain caribou are located in the Telkwa Pass has had a motorized vehicle ban since before I moved to the Bulkley Valley in the mid 70's.That herd has never recovered, despite them bringing in animals to replenish #'s. Once the numbers get that low, predation of any kind is the final nail in this species coffin.

It is never simple is it? Thank you for this well written and thoughtful explanation. The only other activity that you didn't mention is the increased popularity mountain snowmobilers. I would guess that this also has an impact on wildlife and caribou in particular?
 
You know i would have never actually guessed that a dam would mess with Caribou. Does anyone know if that issue was raised during discussions on the project proposals?
As with all things, the wolf cull is just one piece of the equation. It is a controversial topic, so gets the most attention, but is not the whole story.
The maternal penning project is helping by putting some pregnant cows into a pen where they are safe from predation, so that they can calve and raise their calves in safety, but are also fed so that they have proper nutrition until they are released in July. The calves are strong and healthy enough to be able to escape most predators under normal circumstances by then. The local herd has grown from about 60 to almost 100 strong in the last 5 years.
Oil and gas development is only a part of the industrial disturbance that has affected the caribou habitat, but gets the most bad rap. Forestry, mining and hydroelectric dams have had significant impacts on the habitat and ecosystems as well.
The WAC Bennet Dam built in the late 60's-early 70's has had the greatest impact on the caribou herds. The large reservoir created Williston Lake, where the valleys flooded were not logged prior to the flooding. Those trees came loose from the bottom of the reservoir and popped up, lining the shores for hundreds of kms so that the caribou could not enter/exit the waters on their migration routes from wintering to summer calving grounds along the Rocky Mtns. Many that made it into the water and swam across could not get out of the water and drowned. Then as the years (decades) went by, the erosion of the wind and waves on the shorelines eroded the shorelines of the silt laden soils (from this area once being an inland sea) to the point that many kms of shoreline are now steep cliffs or banks that no animals can make it up/down to get into or out of the water. This effectively stopped the migration of the herds of caribou here that once numbered in the thousands. Generations later (for the caribou) they have lost their knowledge of the migration trails and the scent trails of the thousands of caribou migrating along trails that existed for thousands of years, to the point that they no longer know the routes, or can find them. The dam also created a new micro-climate that did not exist here before, by increasing the areas natural humidity levels, amounts of snowfall and ambient temperatures.
Large blocks of timber were cleared by logging. At first these were smaller blocks that had smaller impacts on the environment. Then came the pine beetle. The subsequent logging practices of huge blocks of clearcut has completely cleared whole valleys and reduced the amount of escape cover and prime bedding areas. Not to mention create significant erosion issues and sedimentation of streams and rivers, and the drying up of smaller drainages, streams and tributaries that were once protected by the shade of the forests.
Then you add the changing of the landscape by large mine sites that disrupt or destroy what is left of shortened migration routes for the herds that are trapped south of the Williston Lake reservoir and their prime winter and calving areas and it leaves little area left for them to survive and raise their young in. Add the long sight corridors created by seismic lines, pipelines, and hydro transmission lines and you set up the perfect storm for predators to sight their prey and then easily run them down. These right of ways are planted with agronomic seed mixes, which replace native plant species with high protein plants such as timothy, clover and alfafa which attract the ungulates to them to feed on the higher nutrient foods, thus concentrating them in areas for the predators to hunt them more effectively.
Replanting these lines with native grass species instead of agronomic mixes that do not attract the ungulates will help rebalance the predator/prey equations, along with putting in lines of shrubs and bushes or making doglegs in the lines when built, that will disrupt the long line of sight runs on these lines, will limit how far the predators can see their prey from. Limiting the size of logging blocks and implementing better management of wildlife patches and riparian zones, and erosion control measures will help protect the environment and water quality, to better restore the balanced ecosystems quicker than current practices are doing. Using more underground mining practices will disturb less of the environment and valuable migration routes and wintering/calving grounds.
These are challenging issues when trying to balance with resource extraction and creating economic development and much needed jobs. But we need to do it in a more sustainable and responsible manner.
 
Thanks,

I hadn't hear about some of these things. I assume now the agronomic seed mixes are illegal? It's kind of like baiting.

Few years ago I noticed a corner of a well site in a grazing lease in Alberta which seemed to attract a lot of deer, scraping the snow cover.
Once I looked i realized the alfalfa growing under the snow didn't get there naturally or by accident.



As with all things, the wolf cull is just one piece of the equation. It is a controversial topic, so gets the most attention, but is not the whole story.
The maternal penning project is helping by putting some pregnant cows into a pen where they are safe from predation, so that they can calve and raise their calves in safety, but are also fed so that they have proper nutrition until they are released in July. The calves are strong and healthy enough to be able to escape most predators under normal circumstances by then. The local herd has grown from about 60 to almost 100 strong in the last 5 years.
Oil and gas development is only a part of the industrial disturbance that has affected the caribou habitat, but gets the most bad rap. Forestry, mining and hydroelectric dams have had significant impacts on the habitat and ecosystems as well.
The WAC Bennet Dam built in the late 60's-early 70's has had the greatest impact on the caribou herds. The large reservoir created Williston Lake, where the valleys flooded were not logged prior to the flooding. Those trees came loose from the bottom of the reservoir and popped up, lining the shores for hundreds of kms so that the caribou could not enter/exit the waters on their migration routes from wintering to summer calving grounds along the Rocky Mtns. Many that made it into the water and swam across could not get out of the water and drowned. Then as the years (decades) went by, the erosion of the wind and waves on the shorelines eroded the shorelines of the silt laden soils (from this area once being an inland sea) to the point that many kms of shoreline are now steep cliffs or banks that no animals can make it up/down to get into or out of the water. This effectively stopped the migration of the herds of caribou here that once numbered in the thousands. Generations later (for the caribou) they have lost their knowledge of the migration trails and the scent trails of the thousands of caribou migrating along trails that existed for thousands of years, to the point that they no longer know the routes, or can find them. The dam also created a new micro-climate that did not exist here before, by increasing the areas natural humidity levels, amounts of snowfall and ambient temperatures.
Large blocks of timber were cleared by logging. At first these were smaller blocks that had smaller impacts on the environment. Then came the pine beetle. The subsequent logging practices of huge blocks of clearcut has completely cleared whole valleys and reduced the amount of escape cover and prime bedding areas. Not to mention create significant erosion issues and sedimentation of streams and rivers, and the drying up of smaller drainages, streams and tributaries that were once protected by the shade of the forests.
Then you add the changing of the landscape by large mine sites that disrupt or destroy what is left of shortened migration routes for the herds that are trapped south of the Williston Lake reservoir and their prime winter and calving areas and it leaves little area left for them to survive and raise their young in. Add the long sight corridors created by seismic lines, pipelines, and hydro transmission lines and you set up the perfect storm for predators to sight their prey and then easily run them down. These right of ways are planted with agronomic seed mixes, which replace native plant species with high protein plants such as timothy, clover and alfafa which attract the ungulates to them to feed on the higher nutrient foods, thus concentrating them in areas for the predators to hunt them more effectively.
Replanting these lines with native grass species instead of agronomic mixes that do not attract the ungulates will help rebalance the predator/prey equations, along with putting in lines of shrubs and bushes or making doglegs in the lines when built, that will disrupt the long line of sight runs on these lines, will limit how far the predators can see their prey from. Limiting the size of logging blocks and implementing better management of wildlife patches and riparian zones, and erosion control measures will help protect the environment and water quality, to better restore the balanced ecosystems quicker than current practices are doing. Using more underground mining practices will disturb less of the environment and valuable migration routes and wintering/calving grounds.
These are challenging issues when trying to balance with resource extraction and creating economic development and much needed jobs. But we need to do it in a more sustainable and responsible manner.
 
I have heard they are using baiting techniques in the area where site C is being built to draw the elk herds away from that location but I have no facts to support that. Just something I was told by a gas plant worker while hunting in 7-32 a couple years ago. We got our elk regardless :)
 
Someone mentioned that land was not cleared when the Peace River power development was first started..
Cattermole- Trethewey Contractors was awarded one of the first 3 contracts for land clearing on the dam site and over the next 15 years
cleared more then 6000 acres between the flooded areas and power line right aways..
History has foregotten that politics then was a ... well shady business
With cost over runs and delays
 
I should add of course that B.C. would not have developed into to the HAVE province it is without the foresight of the politicians to develop and
bring on stream the Peace and Columbia River power projects
With the final ? dam going in now at Site C..
Was wildlife impacted? of course.. But we need power and wind power is not available 7/24
And we don't want to see 1000's of wind turbines if not 100 of 1000's
 
No, agronomic mix is not outlawed and is still the standard that the BC Forestry still uses.
And industry is reluctant to not use it as it is still the cheapest option for them.

I believe I forgot to mention the issue of the the creeping red fescue that is in that mix.
It carries a endophyte that is so attractive to people who use it to seed lawns and golf courses as it is a pesticide that helps keep lawns and fairways bug free.
The issue is that it causes abortions in cattle and other livestock and can cause fertility issues in male and female animals preventing them from being able to procreate.
If it does this to livestock; what is it doing to our wild animal populations???
It also has the same nutritional value as styrofoam! Even goats won't eat it!
With our moose population in northeastern BC falling by 70% in the past 10 years and our caribou in even worse trouble, it should be banned from use in our environment!
 
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Good information shared BlackRam there are likely quite a few eco systems in canada that have been altered so significantly that the animals not longer find food, shelter or familiar surroundings where they once roamed.
 
Slightly off topic but of interest in this discussion. Industry has to learn to co-exist in the least harmful way possible. Due diligence by conservation minded organizations are key to bringing pressure on industries to comply. These decisions are made in a board room by people with little interest in anything but money. Herein lies the problem. Case in point. My working background involved the railway. As a crown corp. CN would not allow us to pick up grain loads if they were leaking, they would be switched out at the pick-up point and left behind. This of course caused major delays and tied up the main for an extra half hour or more. Upon privatization we were told to leave nothing behind to increase production levels. Seems simple enough. What could go wrong?? OK so now there is a grain crop growing between the rails from Winterpeg to Rupert. Can't have that as it reduces drainage and promotes washouts. So the out come the herbicides and they spray the track. While herbicides will not have a direct impact on herbivores it does impact the surrounding ecosystems which means their food source. Of course the grain crop attracts wildlife to feed , train hits animal, scavengers arrive, and none of this is a good. So how do you stop this?? or any of the above mentioned problems with some of our mining methods? Takes a very concerted effort by different groups. Regulations that are written in good faith (pesticide regs, mining regs etc) have to be applied rigorously and without prejudice. Too often our regs, which are very thorough, are compromised for the 'greater good'. Corruption rules and people are bought, no one person can be held accountable and wildlife pays the price. In CN's boardroom the money decision was it was easier to spray the track than switch out leaky grain cars. Wildlife was not part of that decision. So how can that be factored in and forced to have viable part of this decision making? Wish I had the answer for that one. Any fines are joke and just the cost of doing business. I am very concerned with our moose and caribou #'s. Looked across the lake the other day and there were 8 bears grazing on the hillside, that is just way out of whack. They are releasing bears in our area constantly by people who think that are doing wildlife a favour. They are, of course, contributing to an already imbalanced prey/predator relationship. Well intentioned, ill informed people releasing predators in an environment that simply cannot handle them and equally disconcerting, board rooms making decisions that are predicated on money only and with lawyers working every minute to get around well intentioned regs. Our wildlife is in crisis in many areas and the system in place to protect is often for sale. People who were around in the 70's will remember the implementation of the James Bay project and its devastating effect on the caribou in that region. Their migration routes were flooded and the losses were catastrophic. Not sure what regs were broken that time, the losses were in the 100,000's.
 
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The population of three mountain caribou herds in the South Peace region has risen by 49 per cent just four years into an experimental wolf cull program, according to a new analysis released by the provincial government.

Based on those findings, the report concludes “it is highly recommended that wolf reduction continue to be implemented” until the herds are self-sustaining

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/caribou-numbers-up-49-per-cent-after-four-year-wolf-cull

Related government study:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/wildlife-wildlife-habitat/caribou/south_peace_caribou_recovery_following_five_years_of_experimental_wolf_reduction.pdf

Cheers,
Nog

Complete BS
 
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