Science

PR (BNE 2024): 004 - June 2023 Calving Ground Surveys: Bluenose-East and Bathurst Barren-ground Caribou Herds

This report describes the results of a calving ground photo survey of the Bluenose-East barren-ground caribou herd conducted June 4-13, 2023 west of Kugluktuk in Nunavut. The survey was flown to develop updated estimates of numbers of breeding females, adult females, and herd size.

PR (Wolf 2020): 166 - Commitments #4 to #8 - WRRB's Science Technical Session, October 5, 2020

These are GNWT commitments made during the WRRB's Science Technical Session on October 5, 2020 to: 1) provide a summary of stomach contents of all harvested wolves (ground and aerial); 2) conduct additional model runs using caribou centric model; 3) share information from aerial removal data forms, specifically information on the number of packs and the number of wolves in those packs; 4) identify on which herd’s winter range the collared wolves were captured (by individual wolf), and ident

PR (Wolf 2020): 136 - June 2019 Calving Ground Composition Surveys of Bathurst and Bluenose-East Barren-ground Caribou Herds

This report describes the results of calving ground composition surveys of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou herds conducted in June of 2019 near Bathurst Inlet and west of Kugluktuk in Nunavut (NU). The main purpose of the surveys was to estimate the proportion of breeding females (cows that gave birth as a proportion of all cows) which indicates the initial calf productivity on the two calving grounds. In addition, the surveys estimated the relative distribution of breeding caribou on each calving ground as well as relative abundance of predators.

PR (Wolf 2020): 135 - Preliminary analysis of winter range overlaps between the Bluenose East, Bathurst and Beverly/Ahiak migratory tundra caribou herds

The Bathurst herd’s winter range in some years overlaps the winter ranges of its neighboring herds (Bluenose East, and Beverly/Ahiak herds). The overlapping winter distribution between the herds has complicated monitoring, assigning harvests and possibly affects potential switches of cows between calving grounds.

PR (Wolf 2020): 134 - Testing predator–prey theory using broad-scale manipulations and independent validation

1. A robust test of ecological theory is to gauge the predictive accuracy of general relationships parameterized from multiple systems but applied to a new area. To address this goal, we used an ecosystem-level experiment to test predator–prey theory by manipulating prey abundance to determine whether predation was density dependent, density independent, compensatory or depensatory (inversely density dependent) on prey populations.

PR (Wolf 2020): 133 - Questionable policy for large carnivore hunting

Terrestrial large carnivores are in rapid global decline, with consequences for ecosystem structure and function. Among drivers of these declines, legal hunting is unique because it is intentional and thus relatively easily controlled. Although regulated carnivore hunting potentially reduces conflict and provides revenue for conservation, it can also drive population declines (1–5). Some policies regulating carnivore hunting address negative effects on demography and population dynamics, but others do not.