Mitigating Risk of Predation for Woodland Caribou in North-central British Columbia

We report on the data collected and progress made during the first year of a 3-year research project established to test the efficacy of using regulated trap-lines to reduce predation risk for threatened herds of woodland caribou in north-central British Columbia. Objectives in the first year included:

1. Peer-reviewed analyses of caribou mortality data and HSM-based predictions of predation risk;
2. Continued regulated trapping of wolves in one herd area;
3. Continued enhanced harvest of moose in a second herd area;
4. Augmentation of, and systematic monitoring of, radio-collared animals; and
5. Continued census of caribou, moose, and wolves to obtain estimates of population size and recruitment

A total of 63 wolves have been removed primarily from the removal zone, which includes trapping effort conducted by local trappers prior to official initiation of the project. A further 31 wolf deaths (11 from the removal zone) were derived from screening historic information from monitoring radio-collared wolves in the study areas. Other compiled information to support the study was derived from monitoring radio-collared animals. These data contributed to our understanding of seasonal movements and other ecological factors of relevance and came from monitoring 235, 50, 21, and 36 radio-collared caribou, moose, goats, and wolves, respectively. We investigate a total of 20 mortalities of radio-collared animals during the year. The only collared animal deaths, found in the wolf removal zone, were; 1 wolf, 2 caribou, and 4 goats; the caribou and goats were found just inside the outermost removal zone limit (i.e., 15km from the trapping sites). Three population surveys were conducted to derive population parameters for the 2 caribou herds. Total minimum counts for the Wolverine and Chase herds were 356 and 431, respectively. Several improvements to the study were recognized and recommended for implementation in the subsequent year.

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