Caribou Death Statistics

[fargineyesore]

I remember reading, was at least few years ago, on one of the threads some statistics showing the majority of Caribou deaths in the Mountains occurred in the non-winter months from predators. It was table I seem to remember. I did try to use the search function but still not able to find it. Maybe I'm not using the search function correctly.

Does anyone remember which thread that was or how I can get those stats?

Need to show to some anti-sledders and would like to have the factual info to back up what I told them.

Thanks.

 

[Summitric]

INTERESTING ARTICLE:

[h=1]Transplanted Purcell Mountain caribou fail to survive[/h][h=3]15 of 19 transplanted animals died before winter[/h]CBC News Posted: Oct 11, 2012 11:34 AM PT Last Updated: Oct 11, 2012 6:04 PM PT


An expensive plan to relocate mountain caribou from northern B.C. to the Kootenays, has failed after 15 of the 19 transplanted caribou died from accidents, predators or undetermined causes.
In March, a team from B.C.’s Ministry of Forests and Lands tried to transfer 20 caribou from a healthy herd in the Dease Lake area, about 250 kilometres south of the B.C.-Yukon border, to the endangered southern Purcell herd in the East Kootenay.
The move cost about $10,000 per animal.
One of the caribou died during the move, likely from stress, and weather prevented the team from dropping the other 19 animals in a single area. Ten were put near the existing herd, but the other nine had to be dropped in a different valley.
[h=3]Failed to unite with herd[/h]The hope was that the 19 survivors would meet up and join the resident Purcell herd, which was down to 14 animals. But instead, just the opposite happened. The northern caribou fanned out, apparently looking for something.
"Several went into Montana, one recently went into Washington," said project leader, Steve Gordon.
"Whenever you are embarking on a transplant like this, it's a risky endeavour. It's kind of a critical intervention to try and restore this herd. We didn't anticipate this level of mortality though," said Gordon.
While government biologists might not have anticipated this outcome, opponents did. Moving northern caribou south has been tried before, according to Carmen Purdy, president of the Kootenay Wildlife Heritage Fund.
"They don't make it. The last three transplants haven't worked. Why do we keep trying the same thing over and over again?"
Government biologists were going to transplant another group of caribou next spring, but with so many dead caribou, that plan is now in jeopardy.

 

[moyiesledhead]

It was a radio collar study of the South Purcell population done by biologist Trevor Kinley from 1993 - 1997.

Mortality is in Table 3 on page 659.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/mc07kinley.pdf

 

[ZRrrr]

Industrial activities
Industrial activities may alter predator–prey
relationships and potentially could increase the total
predation rate of caribou by:
• producing early seral stages with enhanced
understorey shrub and forb production which
may increase the abundance of other ungulates
or change ungulate distribution within
Woodland Caribou habitat; specifically:
– increased shrub production at low elevations
may increase ungulate populations (e.g., elk,
deer, and moose) which in turn may increase
predator populations, leading to more
predator–prey encounters with caribou
during winter;
– increased forb production at higher elevations
may attract elk, moose, and deer into caribou
habitat during summer; predators following
their prey into these higher elevation areas
may come into contact with caribou more
frequently, leading to increased predation
rates on caribou during summer;
– restricting caribou into mature forest habitat
patches which may increase the search
efficiency of predators; and/or
– providing easier access, through construction
of roads, for predators to travel into caribou
habitats and prey on caribou (James and
Stuart-Smith 2000).
In addition, all threats identified below under
“Habitat threats” are threats to population size and
viability. There is little or no evidence that Woodland
Caribou can be maintained over the long term in
areas having relatively high levels of forestry,
predation, and recreation activity.

Habitat threats
One of the main long-term threats to Woodland
Caribou habitat is the reduction and fragmentation
of contiguous old-growth forest, mainly due to
industrial activities such as forest harvesting. Fragmentation
of old forest and peatland complexes in
Boreal Caribou habitat in northeastern British
Columbia by oil and gas development is also a
concern. Past fires have also contributed to the loss
of habitat over large areas, and there are risks of
future large fires. Forest insects are also currently
playing a larger role in forest renewal on some
Northern Caribou ranges. Habitat loss has several
effects:
• It reduces the amount of space available for
caribou, thereby limiting ecological carrying
capacity.
• Terrestrial and arboreal lichen supply (although
currently not limiting) may be reduced. Because
lichen regeneration is often slow, impacts on
lichen supply are often long term.
• It may impact caribou movement patterns.
• By fragmenting habitat, it may decrease the
chance of caribou using some portions of the
remaining habitat, because parcels tend to be
smaller and discontinuous. Alternatively, if the
remaining parcels are used, caribou may expend
more energy travelling between patches.
• Caribou can become more susceptible to
predation as available habitat is compressed and
fragmented (see “Population threats”).

Forest harvesting
Forest harvesting has been recognized as the greatest
concern to Mountain Caribou habitat management
over the past 20 years. Early winter habitat in the
ICH has always been attractive for forest harvesting
due to good forest productivity on those sites. Late
winter ESSF habitat has only recently (last 10 yr)
become attractive for forest harvesting. Prior to the
1970s there was little industrial activity on low
productivity Northern Caribou low elevation winter
ranges in British Columbia. Relatively low-value
pine forests and the remote location of most of those
winter ranges made them unattractive for forest
harvesting. Improved road access, developments in
log processing that resulted in better utilization of
smaller trees, suitable sites for conducting summer
logging (dry pine sites) which are often in short
supply, and a growing demand for pulp contributed
to increased interest in caribou winter ranges for
forest harvesting.
Forest harvesting affects Woodland Caribou winter
habitat at both the stand and landscape levels. At the
stand level, some harvesting and silvicultural
techniques disturb lichens. Because lichen regeneration
is slow, forest harvesting has long-term
implications for caribou winter habitat. Harvesting
techniques that minimize disturbance to lichens may
help reduce stand level impacts. Although food
supply (lichens) is currently not a limiting factor,
cumulative impacts of forest harvesting over time
could potentially have long-term impacts on food
supply. Caribou require an adequate supply of
lichens over the landscape to allow for rotation of
winter ranges. Forest fragmentation could
potentially result in caribou concentrating on
portions of their range, thereby depleting lichen
reserves over time.
At the landscape level, forest harvesting results in a
patchwork of different forest age classes, which leads
to avoidance and possibly abandonment of that
portion of the winter range (Smith et al. 2000).
Caribou populations persist at low densities due to a
number of interacting factors, including predation
(Bergerud et al. 1984b; Bergerud and Page 1987).
Abandoning a portion of a winter range forces
caribou to concentrate in a smaller area, which may
lead to increased predator efficiency by making them
easier for predators to locate (Seip 1991). A patchwork
of early seral and mature forests may also
enhance habitat for other prey species such as moose
that prefer early seral forests, which could lead to
increased predator numbers and increased predation
on caribou (Seip 1992a). Potential indirect effects of
forest harvesting and habitat fragmentation on
caribou populations through increased energetic
costs and predation risk are discussed in the
“Population threats” section.
Although caribou winter habitat must provide
adequate amounts of terrestrial lichen, it is now
recognized that food is not the primary limiting
factor, and that the distribution of both the summer
and winter habitats on the landscape, and the ability
of caribou to become spatially separated from
predators, particularly during the summer months,
are the most important factors to the long-term
persistence of Northern Caribou (Seip and
Cichowski 1996). Forest harvesting practices that
produce a patchwork of different forest age classes
linked with a network of roads may contain enough
lichens to support a caribou population, but
probably will not provide an environment where
caribou can effectively avoid predators and poachers.
The threat from increasing predation may also be
exerted at broader scales, independent of issues of
fine-scale habitat changes. Predation risk has
probably increased over roughly the past century
due both to larger numbers of predators at the
regional level and less spatial separation due to
habitat fragmentation at the stand or landscape
level. Ongoing forest harvesting by conventional
means may make this situation more severe.
The ability of caribou to move through fragmented
habitats or barriers is not well known. However,
Smith et al. (2000) documented that Northern
Caribou avoid portions of their winter range that
have been fragmented by logging. Large humancaused
fire-created openings 10–15 km wide have
isolated the Narrow Lake and George Mountain
local populations of Mountain Caribou (Simpson et
al. 1997; Heard and Vagt 1998). Highways and roads
may also limit caribou movements, particularly to
female and young caribou moving between seasonal
ranges (Simpson et al. 1994). Caribou north of
Revelstoke appear unwilling to venture south of the
Canadian Pacific Railway tracks and the Trans-
Canada Highway, possibly due to the rail and
highway corridors or to the dense, second-growth
stands (Simpson et al. 1997). However, caribou
appear to regularly cross Highway 16, east of Prince
George, between the North Cariboo Mountains and
the Hart Ranges (D. Heard, pers. comm.), and
caribou elsewhere in the world make regular migrations
through greatly varied habitat conditions. Even
if caribou do cross fragmented habitats, there may
be costs associated with increased energy expenditure
required to locate isolated foraging patches, as
well as increased exposure to human-caused
harassment and mortality.
Although little information is available on Boreal
Caribou in British Columbia, resource extraction in
the form of forestry, petroleum and natural gas
exploration and production, mining (coal, peat, and
potentially diamonds), and agricultural expansion
are all recognized as potentially having negative
impacts on Boreal Caribou in Alberta (Dzus 2001).

 

[LBZ]

So did I miss the part where the sleds are killing them? Sounds like it's everything under the sun but sleds that are offing the dumb animals.

 

[butthead]

So did I miss the part where the sleds are killing them? Sounds like it's everything under the sun but sleds that are offing the dumb animals.

took the words right out of my mouth did u

 

[The Kickass One]

took the words right out of my mouth did u

Make no wonder sled peeps get a bad name!! Is it okay for another living animal to go extinct and joke about it on S&M? I wonder where the dumb really exists.

 

[iceman5689]

University students have done studies on the woodland caribou where I work in northern alberta. Their populations where great numbers 10 yrs ago when I started, but dwindling fast with a pack of 17 wolves. Trappers aren't passing lines onto next generations and predators are doing their thing. A species that just can't survivor without adaptation. We are partially to blame for opening lines up for predators to hunt them freely. Bottom line is Mother Nature will control things the way it's meant to be, humans intervene in trying to make a perfect world. This will be how they are dealing with this case at up north, the wolves will clean them out then move on. It was nice to see them before this.

 

[Summitric]

Google reindeer and caribou.... Northern caribou, mountain caribou and woodland caribou, etc, are one and the same.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[The Kickass One]

It must be true if you googled it??

 

[moyiesledhead]

Google reindeer and caribou.... Northern caribou, mountain caribou and woodland caribou, etc, are one and the same.

Genetically identical. Lots of literature out there to prove it. Mountain Caribou are an "Ecotype", not a subspecies.

 

[The Kickass One]

I work with biologists... I sled a lot... I respect their knowledge and also nature... There is a lot of space out there so giving everything a little space is a good thing in my view.

 

[adamg]

Make no wonder sled peeps get a bad name!! Is it okay for another living animal to go extinct and joke about it on S&M? I wonder where the dumb really exists.

I'm entirely OK with it, yes.

 

[gunner3006]

I'm not going to speak for bc because I don't hunt there. I do sled there but have yet to bump even one caribou. As for Alberta I feel like I can chime in. We have the woodland caribou here and I actually have seen them multiple times
hunting between Grande Prairie and Hinton. The art of trapping is and has always been under spotlight for reasons I'm not going to get into. In the last 2 years I have seen a record amount of predetors. Cougar, wolf, and coyote. I believe the biologists have a job to do and they will do it. From what I am seeing though there needs to be a little more focus on keeping a Canadian tradition like trapping alive and worth while. 100% of the trappers I know sled and use one to trap. Sleds didn't just show up in the mountains. They have been there for years and years.

 

[moyiesledhead]

I work with biologists... I sled a lot... I respect their knowledge and also nature... There is a lot of space out there so giving everything a little space is a good thing in my view.

Well consider this. The picture in the Lumberton trails thread that you correctly identified as the back end of Cooper Lake was actually closed for sleds to protect Caribou until we finally managed to get it back this year. Hasn't been a Caribou there since about 1996. Food for thought.

 

[LBZ]

Make no wonder sled peeps get a bad name!! Is it okay for another living animal to go extinct and joke about it on S&M? I wonder where the dumb really exists.

Dafuq are you talking about?

 

[D.C]

Don't worry folks, it seems like Christy Clark is getting to the bottom of this whole caribou mystery one dollar at a time. Hopefully they can come to a conclusion on what is really going on and stop blaming sledders.
Cash for caribou

 

[X-it]

There was one study done that sealed the fate for snowmobilers, everything was based off of this one study. They wanted to prove that caribou move when snowmobilers show up and the study showed this. So you take your helicopter, flying behind the herd closely and shoot them with a dart. Then you put a radio collar on them. Then you repeat this process over and over again. Then you fly over the area in question and guess what the animals are moving away. What happens when a snowmobiler goes by a herd, they stand there and look at you. What happens when a helicopter flies by... total friggen mayhem they run like hell. Great study that is written in stone now.

 

[Merc63]

Did they really pluck 19 animals and drop them off in land they don't know and expect them to survive lol, how dumb are these guys.

Sounds like deforestation is to blame, large open spaces and roads everywhere. If I was a wolf, I wouldn't be too far away from my food source..

 

[moyiesledhead]

Did they really pluck 19 animals and drop them off in land they don't know and expect them to survive lol,

They sure did. Kicked them out of the chopper in the mountains, and here they were in the valley bottom a week later. Didn't take long for the Cougars and Wolves to get 'em after that. Notice the lack of snowmobiles.