CALGARY — By working 18-hour days in sometimes dubious winter conditions, wildlife officials were able to count moose in northern Alberta.
There are about 100,000 moose in the province with the majority being in northern regions.
The moose census, which cost about $1.2 million and was paid from hunting licence fees, shows declining populations in some areas but increases in others, said Lyle Fullerton of the environment department.
Counting the moose from airplanes and helicopters, they were able to track other species like wolves, deer and the endangered woodland caribou. This survey may be the largest inventory of its kind in North America, said Fullerton.
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Also hunters were asked to bring in teeth and fetuses if possible, so fish and wildlife workers could analyze the age of animals and breeding success. They don’t know how productive these animals are.
Population down
Predators like wolves, black and grizzly bears, and the impact of farming, hunting, poaching and pests like winter ticks have all taken their toll on the moose population.
“In some areas, we believe black bears are responsible for killing about 50 percent of the calves prior to July 31,” Fullerton said.
While a wolf kill program is not politically correct, Fullerton said there is a direct correlation between the number of predators and moose.
“When wolf populations were low, moose populations were high,” he said during a public meeting in Calgary.
More public access
Losing habitat is another reason why there are fewer moose. Agriculture continues to expand in the north and roads are being built into remote areas for resource companies and recreationists. More people driving into the area makes life difficult for all animals.
“Just a phenomenal amount of access has been created in northern Alberta in the last 25 years,” said Fullerton.
However, civilization and moose can live together. North of Grande Prairie, where considerable tracts of land are worked, the surveyors found 23,500 moose when they expected to find 15,500. Many were living close to farms and in creek bottoms, said Fullerton.
The northern count revealed there is a high proportion of young bulls who can’t properly service the higher number of females. Some cows are having calves too late in the season, making it hard for the young ones to survive a winter. In most of the moose management regions only about a third of the bulls were more than 2.5 years old.
For example, from Rocky Mountain House to Whitecourt, less than 20 percent of the bulls were older than two, said Fullerton. In the extreme northern reaches of the province, about half were older than 2.5 and populations improved.
Where the population is considered fragile, hunting regulations will be changed such as in the northeastern parkland areas, said Dave Gibson of the fish and game association.
