2020 Wolf Management Proceeding

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.

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.

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.

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.

Long-term wolf (Canis lupus) research programs have provided many insights into wolf population dynamics. Understanding the mechanisms controlling responses of wolf populations to changes in density,  environmental conditions, and human-caused mortality are important as wolf management becomes increasingly intensive.

Studies on small and declining populations dominate research in conservation biology. This emphasis reflects two overarching frameworks: the small population paradigm focuses on correlates of increased extinction probability; the declining-population paradigm directs attention to the causes and consequences of depletion. Neither, however, particularly informs research on the determinants, rate or uncertainty of population increase.

This Section 7.0 Wolf of the 2018 Wildlife Effects Monitoring Program for the Ekati Diamond Mine.

Following the growth and geographic expansion of wolf (Canis lupus) populations reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995–1996, Rocky Mountain wolves were removed from the endangered species list in May 2009. Idaho and Montana immediately established hunting seasons with quotas equaling 20% of the regional wolf population. Combining hunting with predator control, 37.1% of Montana and Idaho wolves were killed in the year of delisting.

Stopping declines in biodiversity is critically important, but it is only a first step toward achieving more ambitious conservation goals. The absence of an objective and practical definition of species recovery that is applicable across taxonomic groups leads to inconsistent targets in recovery plans and frustrates reporting and maximization of conservation impact. We devised a framework for comprehensively assessing  species recovery and conservation success.

Understanding the limiting factors of a prey population is important before and during predator control programs, and optimal intensive management of an increasing prey population requires formal recognition of a sustainable population size. The migratory Fortymile caribou (Rangifer tarandus) herd in Alaska reached a low of approximately 6,000 caribou during 1973–1975.