Issues Forum - Spring 2008

At each Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Wildlife Federation, we hold an “Issues Forum.”  This is a time when experts are invited to present on various topics to keep CWF staff and its Board current on issues impacting Canada.

This year’s meeting was no exception. With speakers presenting on polar bears, Alberta’s oil sands and different management strategies for chronic wasting disease, there was a wealth of knowledge that we would like to share with you.

Polar Bears

One of the speakers was Dr. Nick Lunn. Dr. Lunn is a research scientist with Environment Canada who has been studying the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population.

The work performed by Dr. Lunn and his colleagues has been instrumental in polar bear research. Because of their research, it is known that sea ice in the Western Hudson Bay area is breaking up three weeks earlier than it did in 1975 and this has numerous consequences for the polar bears in this region.

Increasing temperatures reduces the availability of sea ice which polar bears depend on for traveling, hunting, mating and for limited maternity denning.

The early break up of sea ice means that polar bears have less time to hunt seals and build up their fat stores, causing bears to come ashore in poorer condition. This results in polar bears moving inland searching for food, increasing the chances of them becoming problem bears.

Females in poor condition may not be able to produce cubs. While females are still producing triplets in the spring, these cubs are not surviving. In fact, Dr. Lunn has not seen triplets in the fall since 1996.

Dr. Lunn concluded that there has been a 22% decline in the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population which he attributes to climate change. As we all strive to reduce our impact on the environment, its research like this that encourages a need for change.

Alberta Oil Sands

Dr. Brad Stelfox spoke about the impacts of Alberta’s oil sands. While it will take numerous decades, northeast Alberta is predicted to undergo a substantial transformation due to activities associated with the mining of this oil. 

The study Dr. Stelfox made reference to used several species as environmental indicators for the impacts of this mining practice. Woodland caribou, native fish, fisher habitat, black bear habitat, moose habitat, the habitat of old growth birds and the area of old forests were the environmental indicators used to assess both the current condition facing these indicators as well as their forecasted condition in 100 years.

The categories that could be assigned were:

• Red Condition: This indicator is declining at more than 20% below a critical limit or it will drop to this level within 15 years.
• Yellow Condition: This indicator is 10-20% below a critical limit or it will drop more than 10% below this lower limit within 30 years.
• Green Condition: This indicator is not more than 10% below a critical limit and it will stay above this limit for at least the next 30 years.

Woodland caribou and native fish are currently in the red category and are expected to face continued declines over the next 100 years.

Habitats for both fisher and black bear are currently in the yellow category and based on modeling are predicted to decline to the red condition.

Moose habitat is currently in the green condition but is expected to fall into the yellow category.

And lastly, the habitat for old growth birds and the area of old forests is now in the green condition and it is expected to stay in the green category in the 100 year forecast.

In conclusion, it is expected that without any management intervention, many of these environmental indicators are set to decline.  However, there is a framework that has management measures aimed at reversing these negative trends. 

Chronic Wasting Disease

Alberta

Dr. Margo Pybus, a wildlife disease specialist with the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division presented on Alberta’s strategy for managing Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). 

CWD in Alberta is a fairly new disease that is not yet well established.
At the time of Dr. Pybus’ presentation, there was a total of 53 wild deer in Alberta that had CWD, 48 mule deer and 5 white-tailed deer. Alberta is involved in reducing the deer population in and around affected areas.

Part of Alberta’s ongoing strategy involves hunter harvest and surveillance. Their aim is to maximize testing and hunter harvest along the eastern border, target clinical deer for surveillance and to use hunter harvest to reduce the deer density in areas that have a known CWD risk.

The second part of Alberta’s strategy includes enhanced surveillance in high risk areas and a targeted winter control around new cases.

The primary goal of Alberta’s strategy is to contain CWD within manageable areas. Their intent is to use herd reduction and low deer density, until a better tool is developed, in high risk areas to keep the disease from spreading.

Saskatchewan

Dr. Yeen Ten Hwang, a wildlife disease specialist with Saskatchewan Environment’s Fish and Wildlife Division, presented on Saskatchewan’s approach to dealing with CWD in wild cervid populations.

CWD is well established in Saskatchewan and based on aerial surveys deer density remains high in some CWD areas.

Saskatchewan’s previous management plan aimed to eradicate CWD in the wild deer population using hunters and Ministry staff to reduce population sizes through additional hunting opportunities.

They now feel that CWD is not going away and have adjusted their management strategy. Saskatchewan is now managing for a healthy deer population with a low level of CWD.

Saskatchewan’s current strategy is to keep deer densities low in areas affected with CWD, to continue detection and surveillance, increase surveillance outside of areas where CWD currently exists and to have more involvement with stakeholders. 

Saskatchewan’s plan involves a hunter harvest in CWD areas; they will accept sample submissions from outside of known CWD areas and will continue to monitor CWD prevalence.