July 1, 2008 Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd recovers after aerial wolf control
State wildlife biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game shot and killed more than two dozen wolves from a helicopter last month to help a small caribou herd struggling to survive on the Alaska Peninsula.
It marked the first time since 1985 that ADF&G personnel have shot and killed wolves from the air as part of a predator control plan.
Biologists killed 28 wolves on the calving grounds of the Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd near Cold Bay, located about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, to stop what has been a precipitous decline as a result of extremely poor calf survival. In the last six years, the herd has declined from 4,100 caribou to 600. Biologists have counted a total of only six surviving calves in the herd in the past two years.
Wolves from three packs were shot from a helicopter while on or near the calving grounds in late May and early June, according to a press release issued by the department on Friday.
So far, biologists are encouraged by the results of the air strike, which was approved by the Alaska Board of Game in March.
Biologists estimate 63 percent of the approximately 450 calves born this spring survived their first two weeks of life and both pregnancy rates — 90 percent — and weights of newborn calves indicate the herd is healthy, department spokesman Bruce Bartley in Anchorage said.
“That pretty much leaves predation” as the reason for the herd’s decline, he said.
While it’s too early to tell how many calves will survive the summer, most caribou calf mortality occurs during the first few weeks of life, according to the department. Telemetry flights will be flown periodically throughout the summer to document further mortality.
Biologists captured 65 newborn calves to be weighed and fitted with radio collars equipped with mortality sensors so biologists can track them and identify a cause of death if necessary.
“If they survive the summer as we suspect they will, we’ll probably have more calves survive this year than we’ve had the last several years combined,” Bartley said.
The latest figures show wolves are still the biggest killer of caribou calves, however. Of the 24 deaths documented by biologists among radio-collared calves in the first weeks after calving (36.7 percent of the total number of calves), wolves killed seven (10.8 percent) of the radio-collared calves, while bears accounted for five calf deaths (7.6 percent). Another four calves (6.1 percent) were killed by either wolves or bears, but biologists were not able to determine which one. Two calves drowned (3.1 percent) and one died of starvation (1.5 percent). The other five (7.6 percent) died of undetermined causes.
Though the herd ranges primarily within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not permit wolf control on federal lands in Alaska, its calving grounds are on state lands and both the department and game board felt the action was necessary to preserve the herd.
This is the first time in about 15 years that state wildlife biologists have actively participated in a wolf control program.
In the past five years, the state has relied on private pilots and gunners to kill wolves in different parts of the state where moose or caribou populations are too low to meet the needs and demands of subsistence and sport hunters. More than 800 wolves have been killed in the past five years as a result of the program.
Permitted pilot/gunner teams shoot wolves from the air or land and shoot them, practices that have twice been outlawed twice by Alaska voters in state ballot initiatives but were revived by the Alaska Legislature five years ago when it gave the Alaska Board of Game authority to approve citizen-based predator control.
But that program could be halted if a ballot initiative that would allow only ADF&G personnel to shoot wolves or grizzly bears from the air in the event of a “biological emergency” is passed in August. The initiative is on the Aug. 26 primary ballot.
The situation with the South Alaska Peninsula herd may very well have fallen into the biological emergency category, said Joel Bennett of Juneau, one of the initiative sponsors.
“It sure sounds like it would be a candidate for what we had in mind,” Bennett said. “The two key elements from our perspective is that the commissioner make the determination that it’s a biological emergency, not the Board of Game, and that it is based on adequate data, which in this case they would argue they have.”
While there is no definition for exactly what a “biological emergency” is, Bennett said it is basically a situation where a population will suffer an irreversible decline if something isn’t done.
In the past five years, the state has relied on private pilots and gunners to kill wolves in different parts of the state where moose or caribou populations are too low to meet the needs and demands of subsistence and sport hunters. More than 800 wolves have been killed in the past five years as a result of the program.
You and FormerLurker need to get over yourselves and your feigned sense of outrage over the FUCKING WOLVES. Remember, $12.40 buys a non-resident wolf license in Alberta, Canada; they aren't ate up with the "Save the WOLF!!" bullshit.
You hold no moral high ground here, you're an anti-hunter. I get my "cheap fucking thrills" exposing you for the fraud you are. Go back to El-Pee, Fred Mertz.
I can't, I'm not enough of a wild eyed bloodlustful fanatic wishing to kill a bunch of "Mooselem" children, and was banned for daring to speak out against those who were ecstatic over the deaths of innocent people.
I'm sure you fit in quite nicely there though, so I'm sure you are a member in good standing at ElZionPost.org...
And BTW slick, I'm not Fred. I am also not an anti-hunter, I am against shooting creatures from airplanes and killing animals for sport.
I have no quarrel with those who depend on what they hunt for food, just with those who do it for fun.
Nobody is killing wolves for sport from an airplane, you and the Defenders of Wildlife are a bunch of goddamn, motherfucking, lying sons-of-bitches. Eat shit and die you jackass.
Nobody is killing wolves for sport from an airplane
No, they are doing it for political show as to excite all the "sportsmen" who ejaculate over a "good" kill while dreaming of Sarah Palin holding their dicks.
you and the Defenders of Wildlife are a bunch of goddamn, motherfucking, lying sons-of-bitches. Eat shit and die you jackass
So how am I lying? My opinion that this assault by air is morally bankrupt and is totally unnecessary. The facts are, it IS taking place, although you are apparently trying to say it isn't, which makes YOU the liar.
Fucking liar. I posted the links to the Alaska Fish & Game regulations and you wouldn't look for yourself. You don't have the moral high ground here, you are not the arbiter of what is and is not true. The truth is you want to see the eradication of tens of thousands of caribou and moose by the wolves, you only bring emotional rhetoric to the table:
Facing a "serious conservation concern," members of the Alaska Board of Game voted to adopt a predator management program to help a severely declining caribou herd in Game Management Unit 9D (Figure 1). The Southern Alaska Peninsula (SAP) herd presently numbers 600 caribou, down from a historical high of 10,000 caribou in 1983.
"It would be irresponsible in this case for us not to take action to help this herd," says ADF&G Division of Wildlife Conservation Director Doug Larsen.
The SAP declined dramatically over the last five years (Figure 2), in spite of good nutrition and minimal hunting harvest. The problem has been calves are not living as long as they should. Adequate numbers of calves have been born each year, but survival has been poor. During the past two years, nearly all of the calves been killed.
The management program approved by the Board will focus on removing wolves near the SAP calving grounds. Department staff plan to use a helicopter to locate and kill about 25 wolves from two to four wolf packs in the area. Goals of the program are to allow calves to survive to adulthood and to stop the overall herd decline. Brown bears, though abundant, do not kill as many calves as do wolves on the Alaska Peninsula.
"This type of focused predator reduction is very similar to programs conducted elsewhere by state and federal agencies addressing conservation concerns," Larsen said.
Although the herd ranges extensively on federal lands contained in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, they tend to calve on state lands, where predator control can be conducted.
Surveys confirmed nearly all calves died early in life and at a much higher rate than observed in other Alaska herds (Figure 3). Field studies on the Alaska Peninsula have shown that just about all calf deaths at this stage of life are caused by large predators (Figure 4).
The future of the SAP depends on whether or not calves survive during the next few years, and with high fuel prices and a lack of alternative food sources, the welfare of many local communities depend of the future of this herd.
Caribou herds have disappeared before, but because the SAP herd has been identified by the Board as important for human consumption, the Department is mandated by Alaska's "intensive management" law to take steps to rescue the herd.
The herd's decline was initially suspected when caribou surveys conducted in 2003-2005 indicated a drop in the number of calves reaching adulthood. Winter population counts in 2004-2005 also indicated a population decline, but not dramatically different than patterns seen in the late 1980s, when a decline was followed by herd growth.
This is the perfect case for states rights: why in the heck are people in the Lower 48 trying to dictate how Alaska manages their wildlife?? I've never seen one person from Alaska tell Colorado how to manage their elk herds or try to tell Texas how to manage their deer. Thinning out the wolves may not look pretty to some people, but aerial control is a necessity due to the size of Alaska.
The wolf lobby is real and ultimately it leads to the ban on ALL hunting.
i'm learning as i'm reading along here. it is a controversial issue as was stated in the last article you posted and as evidenced by this thread. i didn't realize that moose and caribou were a staple in the diets of native alaskans who might not have food otherwise. at the same time, it's really difficult to think about the suffering of the animals with these horrid kill methods described above not limited to the aerial shootings--the killing of the cubs in their dens, the bloodied knives which cause the wolves to bleed to death, the taut wads piercing their stomachs. just awful.
question. don't laugh. i'm ignorant on this and on hunting period. does or has anyone eaten wolf meat? since they're plentiful, that would seem a solution to this.
Basically, if the wolf lobby gets it's way - there will be no hunting !
Period.
The wolves gobble up all the yummy critters, there's basically no hunting left, the yummy critters die off, wolves are off limits for hunting (protected predator class) and no more hunting is the final result.
Basically, if the wolf lobby gets it's way - there will be no hunting !
Yes and No.. there are some groups that want a total ban on all Hunting and the Ownership of Guns. There are some groups that are using this type of Hunting, to push for Outlawing Guns, the Hunting part is just the means. Then there groups that want a balance manner of Hunting.
Then on the Hunting side of the issue, there are groups that join the above group, in having a balanced manner in Hunting. And then there are those like X, that seem to have a No Limit of the how and where.
Digest the following dilemna in contrast to the issue of wolves in Alaska. The problem: too many elk. The solution: shoot them. The enviro-weenie complaint: let the wolves do it. The problem with that: $$$$$$. What SHOULD have happened all along: regulated hunting by the citizens.
Elk Shooting Begins At Rocky Mountain National Park Up To 100 Elk Will Be 'Culled'
ESTES PARK, Colo. -- Elk roaming throughout Rocky Mountain National Park are being taken down one-by-one as a federal program to thin the herd gets under way.
Wednesday was the first day of the so-called "culling" operation, a controversial program meant to save the park's willow and aspen stands, which have been ravaged by the largest concentrated elk herd in the country.
The team of six to 10 volunteer hunters had trained with national park and Colorado Division of Wildlife rangers.
"The culling team has a primary shooter, a primary observer, a secondary shooter, and a secondary observer," said Larry Rogstad, with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Sharpshooters spotted the first herd shortly after gathering in the shadow of Longs Peak Wednesday morning, but they quickly scrapped the target because the rocky hillside didn't offer a safe shot.
"This is a heavily visited area -- Rocky Mountain National Park. And we want to ensure there is an immediate backstop behind every animal before we shoot," said Ben Bobowski, with Rocky Mountain National Park.
Soon after, a female elk was spotted in Upper Beaver Meadows and immediately taken down.
"The animal separated itself from the herd and was down in a matter of seconds," Bobowski said.
After 11 years of research, feedback and planning, the National Park Service decided to go with the culling program, with the intent that trained volunteer hunters would shoot only one or two female elk a day.
"Out of respect for the animal and the integrity of the ecosystem, it's important to do this right now," Bobowski said.
The National Park Service has been criticized for culling because there were other options. The idea of fertility control is still being researched but the DOW said reintroducing wolves to the park would not work.
"To intensely manage a pack of wolves would take an exorbitant amount of resources," Rogstad said.
Fences that encompass 61 acres have been erected in three areas to protect vegetation but fencing the entire park was impractical. The vegetation serves as food for other animals such as beaver, badgers, birds and butterflies.
The elk cannot be relocated because of chronic wasting disease.
"Moving an animal with a potential disease is certainly not a good idea," Rogstad said.
After each elk is shot, it will be tested for chronic wasting disease and then its carcass will be given away to winners of a lottery. Rogstad said 5,400 people applied to receive the meat. Selected winners will get all the meat from one carcass at no cost. The individual who gets the carcass will not get the head of the animal, which will be kept for research.
Kyle Patterson, spokeswoman for RMNP, said the number of elk killed in the culling operation pales in comparison to the number of elk legally hunted in Colorado, outside the park. In 2007, 49,000 elk were killed in the state and in 2006, 57,000 elk were killed by hunters. Patterson said a total of 1,174 of those killed in 2006 and 2007 combined were in Game Unit 20, which sits right outside RMNP.
Public hunting in the national park was outlawed in 1929 and it remains illegal.
The culling operation will occur every weekday until mid-March, pending good weather. Rocky Mountain National Park hopes to have 100 to 200 elk killed by the end of the season.
The estimated cost of the program will vary year to year, but the annual cost is estimated at $200,000, DOW officials said.
Culling takes place in many areas of the country. The DOW said it is an efficient and humane way to control and reduce herds when herd populations have exceeded the carrying capacity of their habitat.
There are about 600 to 800 elk in the park and 1,000 to 1,300 elk in and around the nearby town of Estes Park.
Rotara/christine: here's the flip side to the "elk problem" in RMNP that should blow your mind when you combine it with EVERYTHING I've flung at FormerLurker to combat his bullshit:
DENVER -- An environmental group is asking federal officials not to go through with plans to use sharpshooters to thin the elk herds in Rocky Mountain National Park.
WildEarth Guardians says in a letter sent Wednesday that the planned culling would violate a long-standing policy against most firearms in national parks.
"National Parks are supposed to be sanctuaries from firearms," said Rob Edward of WildEarth Guardians. "The National Park Service is using members of the public to solve with rifles that which should be the bailiwick of wolves," said Edward.
The Bush administration repealed the firearms ban, but a gun-control group is suing to have it reinstated.
WildEarth Guardians also says park officials didn't fully consider the release of wolves to reduce the herds before it decided on sharpshooters.
Park officials approved a plan to shoot a limited number of elk over 20 years because of overgrazing they say has damaged habitat and threatened other species.
SO, DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE IS AGAINST WOLF HUNTING/MANAGEMENT IN ALASKA (THEY START WITH BEING OUTRAGED OVER AERIAL SHOOTING, BUT IT'S REALLY ALL HUNTING). WILDEARTH GUARDIANS IS AGAINST CULLS/HUNTING OF ELK IN RMNP AND WANTS WOLVES INTRODUCED TO KILL ELK. IT COSTS $200,000 TO CULL ELK WHICH HAVE BEEN OFF- LIMITS TO HUNTING IN RMNP SINCE 1929, A HUGE MISTAKE WHICH IS SELF-EVIDENT. THE WOLF LOBBY CAN GO TO HELL.
You have to wonder what the secondary effects of culling are. Didn't work out so well for elephants. Not advocating against it just wondering. Elephants are self aware so that may make a difference.