STANDARDIZED MONITORING OF STANDARDIZED MONITORING OF HERDSHERDS

BODY CONDITIONBODY CONDITION

CARMA 730 November-3 December 2010

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Robert WhiteUniversity of Alaska Anchorage

BREAKOUT OBJECTIVESBREAKOUT OBJECTIVES

What is proving USEFUL?How can we make it BETTER?Can we make it more ACCESSIBLE?

Are there similar tools or resources out there?

WEB BASED PROTOCOLSWEB BASED PROTOCOLSRESOURCESRESOURCEShttp://carmanetwork.onconfluence.com/display/public/home

Level 1 Protocols (Download) Level 2 Protocols (Download

FIELD PROTOCOLS BODY CONDITION

ASSESSMENT◦ This manual describes

monitoring at the scale of the individual caribou and is focused on health and physical condition.

◦ The actual field protocols are presented at two levels.

◦ Level 1 methods that can be performed by hunters after minimal training.

◦ Level 2 protocols for intensive monitoring (require trained staff to collect and document the health and condition of individual caribou.)

CARMA MANUALS contdCARMA MANUALS contd

CARMA MANUALS contdCARMA MANUALS contd

SUPPORT TOOLSSUPPORT TOOLS

VIDEO & DVDHunter training video (Susan Kutz team)◦http

://www.carmanetwork.com/display/public/Hunter+Training+Video+%28Summary%29

REPORTS◦COMMUNITY-BASED MONITORING OF WILDLIFE

POPULATIONS AND HEALTH IN THE SAHTUCARIBOU – REINDEER ATLAS (Ryan Brooks)

BODY CONDITION PROJECTSBODY CONDITION PROJECTS

Bathurst Body Condition Chokotka Body Condition Taimyr Body Condition Lena-Olenyk Body ConditionPorcupine Body Condition L1 Porcupine Body Condition L3 Bluenose West Body Condition Akia-Maniitsoq Body Condition Kangerlussuaq-Sisimiut Body Condition N Quebec Collections

Backfat

No Yes

Kidney fat

Intestinal fat

Bone marrow

Pink

No

No

Yes

Red & runny

Backfat thickness

<1" >1"

All other fat areas "yes“Bone marrow "yellow"

1-3% body fatPoor/animal dying Pregnancy <30%

3-6% body fatPoor (recovering?)

Pregnancy 50 to 70%

6-12%% body fatGood

Pregnancy 100%

12%% body fatExcellent

Pregnancy 100%

Expert knowledgedichotomous Key

(fall cow)

Yes

Kofinas, G., D.E. Russell and R.G. White. 2002. Monitoring Caribou Body Condition:Workshop Proceedings. Technical Report Series No. 396. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario, 31 pp.

PREDICTION OF BODY FAT: APPLICATION OF THE CARMA DICHOTOMOUS KEY

(Note: the key was devised from insights from an autumn collection)CARMA LEVEL 1: Measurement of backfat only

Backfat

No Yes

Kidney fat

Intestinal fat

Bone marrow

Pink

No

No

Yes

Red & runny

Backfat thickness

<1" >1"

All other fat areas "yes“Bone marrow "yellow"

1-3% body fatPoor/animal dying

3-6% body fatPoor (recovering?)

6-12%% body fatGood

12%% body fatExcellent

Expert knowledgedichotomous Key

(fall cow)

Yes

Kofinas, G., D.E. Russell and R.G. White. 2002. Monitoring Caribou Body Condition:Workshop Proceedings. Technical Report Series No. 396. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario, 31 pp.

A. Backfat depthB. Marrow

SPRING

cm not inches

<1 >1

COMPARISON OF DICHOTOMOUS KEY WITH PREDICTED BODY FAT LEVEL

BREAKOUT OBJECTIVESBREAKOUT OBJECTIVES

What is proving USEFUL?How can we make it BETTER?Can we make it more ACCESSIBLE?

Are there similar tools or resources out there?

SUPPORT TOOLSSUPPORT TOOLS

SOME EXAMPLES FOLLOWSOME EXAMPLES FOLLOW

APPLICATIONS FROM PREDICTION OF WHOLE BODY FAT AND PROTEIN RESERVES IN GREENLAND COLLECTION IN MARCH (Christine Cuyler)

DATA PRESENTED AT NACW IN WINNIPEG 2010

WARBLE AND NASAL BOT LARVAE WARBLE AND NASAL BOT LARVAE DISTRIBUTION BY REPRODUCTIVE CLASSDISTRIBUTION BY REPRODUCTIVE CLASS

FAT RESERVES IN INDICESFAT RESERVES IN INDICES

1 BONE

~8 BONES

~3.2% of BF

Probability of visually reporting Probability of visually reporting fat indices by reproductive classfat indices by reproductive class

1) concordance between indices is poor

2) backfat (rump) may reflect fat reserves entering winter

3) omental (gut) fat is used after rump

4) kidney fat appears to be conserved

PROBABILITY

FAT DISTRIBUTION BY FAT DISTRIBUTION BY REPRODUCTIVE CLASSREPRODUCTIVE CLASS

1) pregnant animals had highest amount of fat (~6 kg) representing ~8 %BWt.

2) non-pregnant animals had 4 kg fat, representing 6.5 %BWt.

3) short yearlings at 1 kg fat represented 5.5 %BWt.