Summer 2009

On June 3, 2008 - considered the peak of thecalving period - female caribou were spreadacross a large portion of insular Newfound-

land. This runs contrary to the commonly held con-cept that caribou calve only in well-defined areasthat are often limited in size.

It is not yet known whether the observed distribu-tion is a result of a change in female calving behav-ior, or the result of a more representative sample,achieved through the use of a stratified randomcollar-deployment protocol.

The map (right) indicates a need to redefine whatconstitutes a calving area or calving ground, as wellas development of new management strategies toaddress the needs of caribou across the landscapeas opposed to traditional methods of designatingsmall contiguous calving, wintering or rutting areasfor protection.

The observed distribution also has implications for themanagement of various predators that utilize cariboufor their survival. These implications become even moreimportant if management were to include attempted re-moval of predators from caribou “calving areas.”

Collared female caribou occupied 30,580 km2 during calvingin 2008. This only includes caribou from populations beingstudied under the Caribou Strategy, suggesting the actual areaoccupied by all calving females on the island would be muchlarger. These observations indicate caribou have a dynamic rela-tionship with the land, making it difficult to define areas of the islandthat cannot be considered caribou habitat.

Identifying areas not cur-rently utilized by caribouand the characteristics ofthose areas is an impor-tant component of the current strat-egy.

Development of a long-termmanagement strategy for cari-bou depends on quantifyingand understanding thecharacteristics of theseavoided areas. Such anunderstanding willallow for the delin-eation of availablecaribou habitat, acomparison oflandscape char-acteristics in areas utilized or avoidedby caribou, and a means to deter-mine if future development activitiespose a significant threat to caribou in aspecific area. In addition, it will pro-vide us with tools that can be usedto ensure caribou habitat lost to

development in the past can berehabilitated, and future activi-

ties can be managed in such away that they have a mini-

mum impact on existingcaribou populations.

Photos: Darren Barrett; JohnNeville, Wildlife Division

News from the Wildlife Division - June 2009

Caribou Calving Locations Northern, Southern and Central

Island, June 3, 2008(Eastern Newfoundland data not available at time of printing)

Caribou locations June 3, 2008

Estimated calving locations 2008

Roads

Lakes

Legend

New insight on caribou calving An important aspect of caribou management involves identifying and delineating areas usedfor calving. This can be achieved through the use of animal collaring technology and geospa-tial analysis techniques, which were utilized for caribou on the Island of Newfoundland.

Department of Environment & Conservation Natural Heritage Branch

News from the Wildlife Division

Our Wildlife

The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small, sparrow-sizedshorebird designated as endangered under both federal andprovincial endangered species legislation. In the summer of

2008, an estimated 57 adult Piping Plovers were nesting in New-foundland; most on the sandy/cobble beaches of the southwestcoast of the island.

The reproductive success of these birds has been historically limitedbecause of human disturbance and nest predation. One of the pri-mary sources of nest disturbance is the increased use of motorizedvehicles (ATVs/dirt bikes) on these beaches. Unfortunately, this typeof disturbance can kill adults/chicks, prevent adults from nesting,cause parents to abandon existing nests, or over-expose eggs nolonger adequately protected by an incubating parent.

The towns of Stephenville Crossing and Channel-Port aux Basquesare in close proximity to significant provincial sites for these endan-gered birds, and their municipal boundaries include the six beacheswhere signs prohibiting motorized vehicles use have been placedfor the summer of 2009. Beaches in the Channel-Port aux Basquesarea include Osmond Beach, Short Sand Beach, Big Barachois, Bot-tle’s Barachois, and Second Beach, Grand Bay West. In StephenvilleCrossing, beaches include Main Gut and Seal Cove. These beacheswere selected based on breeding plovers’ historical use, and for thelevel of motorized vehicle activity that occurs on them.

Education and outreach to the public relating to the plight of thePiping Plover has been ongoing each summer since 2001 via theBeach Guardian Program and the efforts of local enforcement of-ficers. Both the federal and provincial governments cooperate inmonitoring/surveying all potential plover beaches on the south-west coast of the Island. Although these efforts continue, a sup-

plementary education campaign isunderway to make residents

aware of this signageinitiative.

Local volun-teers TerryDowney andNeil Dollard

with the newlyminted sign on

Stephenville Cross-ing beach.

If you use beaches that may be home tothe Piping Plover, please follow thiscode of conduct:

1) Obey any signs restricting use of motorized vehi-cles on those beaches during the breeding season(May 1-Aug 31). Plovers and their nests are very hardto see in their natural habitat. Riders need to beaware that the loss of one bird or one nest can havea major impact on the entire population.

Signs will now be strategically posted each yeararound major breeding beaches. It is a finable of-fense under the Motorized Snow Vehicles and All-Ter-

rain Vehicles Act and its associated regulations to passbeyond designated signs on a motorized vehicle.

2) Observe and photograph Piping Plovers from adistance, walk at the water’s edge, and conduct allactivities away from nesting or feeding areas. Whena plover nest is approached, the incubating adult isforced to leave the nest, causing a break in incuba-tion. When this occurs, eggs can become overheatedor chilled, which could kill the embryo. Disturbedadults may even abandon the eggs completely. Allhuman activity should be avoided around nesting orfeeding areas.

3) Do not remove natural debris such as driftwood.Cleaning beaches can remove important Plover habi-tat, including driftwood and other natural debris thatprovides feeding areas and shelter.

4) Remove trash and food scraps. Predation is alsoan important factor limiting Plover populations.Trash, food scraps and dead fish attract predators,resulting in predation on adult plovers, chicks andeggs. It is important for beach users to not litter, andto consult with Wildlife officials prior to undertakingorganized beach clean-ups.

5) Keep pets leashed. All pets, dogs in particular,should be kept on a leash (less than 6 feet) so theydo not disturb Plovers or their habitat. It is illegalunder Wild Life Regulation 40(3) to allow your dogto chase or harass wild life.

6) Do not pick up Piping Plover eggs or chicks.

Photos: Joe Brazil, Wildlife DivisionPlover graphic: Alberta Sustainable Resource Development

The Wildlife Division has placed signs prohibitingmotorized vehicle use on six significant PipingPlover breeding beaches in southwestern Newfoundland from May 1-Aug. 31.

Protecting Plover


All caribou hunters were asked to submit sam-ples from their kills. Resident hunters andoutfitters submitted more than 330 samples

over the three-year program. Samples were ana-lyzed for fat content to provide an assessment ofcaribou body condition.

If population decline is related to habitat and foodavailability, the body condition of animals fromherds that are declining significantly should bepoorer than body condition for herds that are con-sidered stable. Results from the 2008 program con-firmed the 2006-2007 findings, that hunted animalswere in good to excellent body condition.

Differences in body condition were found in maleswhen pre-rut and post-rut individuals were compared,with pre-rut males having significantly more body fat.Samples of females with calves submitted in previousyears had significantly less fat than females withoutcalves. This analysis suggests the methodology is soundand differences in body condition can be detected usingfat measurements from hunter-submitted samples.

Hunter participation in this project was integral to the suc-cess of this project.

“Collecting samples from hunters is a practical and efficientway to get important data, and to involve hunters in researchthat will ultimately impact management planning processes,”says Christine Doucet, acting senior manager of research with theWildlife Division. “Sample submissions were lower in 2008, but sowere the hunting quotas.”

The Caribou Health Monitoring Program was carried out for the thirdand final year in 2008. The program,initiated in 2006, was developed toassess whether habitat and foodavailability was a factor in currentNewfoundland woodland cariboupopulation declines. Participating hunters and outfitters

had extra incentive to submit woodland caribou sam-ples to the Wildlife Division.

Each year names were entered into a draw. In 2008, Gordon Thomas of Portugal Cove was thefirst-place winner of a St. Croix 4pc salmon rod andOkuma salmon reel. Grayson Jenkins of St. John’s wasthe second-place winner of an i-Finder GPS H20 colourwith maps, and Randolph Coffin of Paradise claimedthe third-place prize, a set of Bushnell Trophy 10x42binoculars.

The winner of the outfitter prize draw for an i-Finder GPS H20 colour with maps was SnowshoeLake Hunting and Fishing of GrandFalls-Windsor.

Caribou HealthMonitoring Program


Photos: Caryn Smith, Wildlife Division

Small mammals such as voles, mice and shrews play an essentialrole in northern ecosystems, leading to both stability and fluctuation

in the landscapes they inhabit. As an important food source to bothmammalian and avian predators, changes in their numbers and distribution

directly relate to the abundance and productivity of their predators. Small mam-mals are consumers themselves, influencing the numbers of available seed and in-

vertebrates.

Small-mammalmonitoring

Recognizing the importance of small mammals,a number of organizations across theprovince worked together to establish a net-

work of small mammal monitoring sites in 2007.

The Wildlife Division, along with the provincialForestry Services Branch and the Institute for Envi-ronmental Monitoring and Research, took the leadon this iniative with partner support from JacquesWhitford Stantech Limited, Innu Nation, LabradorMétis Nation, Nunatsiavut Government, Conne RiverBand, Vale Inco, and the Atlantic Canada Conserva-tion Data Centre.

The primary goals of this project include identifyingspecies and the distribution of species across theprovince, developing population trend data, trackingchanges in species distribution over time, establish-ing a reference collection of species in the province,disease monitoring and early detection, generatingGeneral Status assessment data, tracking invasives,and establishing consistent data collection method-ology across the province

Participating partners established and ran long-termtrapping grids in representative habitats across theprovince. The most northerly monitoring site was inNain, with other sites extending east to ChurchillFalls, down through southern coastal Labrador andacross the island from Roddickton to Gambo. Whilemost sites were forested, some were also estab-lished in bogs and barrens.

The results from the last two years of data collectionindicate that between 2007 and 2008 total capturesof small mammals dropped about 43 per cent/sitefor insular Newfoundland, mainly due to a drop inMasked Shrew numbers. Labrador had a similar de-cline/site of 42 per cent, with declines seen among a

number of species. In Newfoundland there were atotal of 360 captures over 14 sites in 2008. Fourspecies were captured in Newfoundland. MaskedShrews were the most common, followed by Red-backed Voles, Meadow Voles and Deer Mice. Sevenspecies were recorded for Labrador. Red-backedvoles dominated Labrador captures, comprising al-most 90 per cent of total captures in 2008.

Other small mammals captured in Labrador includedBog Lemmings, Meadow Voles, Heather Voles,Masked Shrews, Deer Mice and Meadow JumpingMice. In 2008, 368 small mammals were capturedover 10 sites in Labrador.

The introduced Red-backed Vole continues to ex-pand its range within insular Newfoundland. The re-sults of 2007 indicated these voles were just northof Main River, east to Bishop’s Falls and at least asfar south as Stephenville in the west and 25km southalong the Bay d’Espoir Highway in Central. Datafrom 2008 found the voles to have expanded eastto Gambo, and all the way down the Bay D’EspoirHighway.

This data indicates annual movements could be upto 90km/year! At this rate the voles willbe in Terra Nova NationalPark by 2009, raising in-teresting questionsabout the re-sponse of preda-tors within thePark. Thevoles will likelyreach morenortherly net-work siteswithin 2-3 years.


Vole capture photos: Shelley Garland & Bruce Rodriques, Wildlife Division

Young hunters from Lewisporte participated in Young HuntersHeritage Day May 30. Twenty-eight participants ranging in age from 9 –

18 and their parents/guardians gathered atthe Notre Dame Rod and Gun Club

for an introduction to shootingsports, and to learn about

the hunter’s role in conser-vation. They also learnedabout the importance ofsupporting local organiza-tions like Rod and Gun Clubs

and Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Participants spent the day learningabout firearm safety, waterfowl calling,

waterfowl identification, and rifle andshotgun shooting. Ducks Unlimited Canada gave a presentation on the

organization’s work in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sponsors included the Wildlife Division, Blue Ridge Inc., Notre DameRod and Gun Club, and Ducks Unlimited

Canada. All youth participants receivedlots of goodies from the sponsors

including caps and waterfowlcalls. Draws were made for doorprizes, which included gift cer-tificates, backpacks and com-passes.

Young Hunters Heritage Day

“How to Hunt BlackBears” Workshops

Conservation Services isoffering “How to HuntBlack Bears” workshopsin June, August & Sep-tember 2009. [email protected] call 637-2006 for datesand locations.

Fo

rest

Fair

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Salmonier Nature Park is open for the summer. Visit us onSalmonier Line (Route 90), 12 km south of the

TCH on the Avalon Peninsula.

Visiting hours: June 1- Sept. 7 (Labour Day)

10 a.m. - 6 p.m., seven days a week. Gates close at 5 p.m.

Sept. 8-Oct. 12 (Thanksgiving Day): 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Gates close at 3 p.m.

Salmonier Nature Park Visiting Hours

Upcoming

EventsJune 12-14: Becoming an Outdoors WomanBurry Heights, Salmonier LineContact: [email protected]

June 20: Newfoundland Sportsman Annual Trap ShootSt. John’s Rod & Gun Club.Contact: [email protected]

August 21-23: 2009 FirearmSafety/Hunter Education InstructorConference Sir Wilfred Grenfell College,Corner BrookContact: [email protected]

July (TBD): Atlantic Provinces YouthHunting and Fishing event. Contact: [email protected]

Wildlife Division Photos:

Black Bear, Joe Brazil;

Owl, Michael Blackwood;

Forest Fair, Gerry Yetman;

Heritage Day, Nathan Spence

Environment & ConservationNatural Heritage BranchWildlife Division117 Riverside DriveCorner Brook, NL A2H 7S1

(709) 637-2025www.gov.nl.ca

Questions or comments, contact: [email protected]


What’s New at Wildlife

Summer 2009

Documents

Transcript of Summer 2009