EDMONTON - A Statoil-financed study of woodland caribou in theoilsands region indicates there is a larger, more steady populationthan previously believed, challenging expectations several herdscould be all but wiped out in the next four decades. Published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,the study draws its conclusions from the scat-sniffing work of apack of dogs set out over three winters to track woodland caribou,moose and wolf droppings. But in an environment where others havefound woodland caribou habitat is increasingly crossed by wolvesbecause of roads and cutlines created by oil and gas companies inthe area, the study s findings are not without controversy. The population estimate is more than double what had beenanticipated before, said Tim Shopik, manager of Statoil sregulatory affairs. Caribou are a very difficult animal to comeup with a population estimate, they hide very well in the bush soit s difficult to see the animals. The nice thing about using dogsis you can collect all this wealth of information, it s almostlike a blood sample, without even seeing the animals themselves.... The dogs are wandering around the bush in the deep snowcollecting their scat, and really revealing their secrets. There are 13 main herds of woodland caribou in northeasternAlberta, and previous estimates have pegged the total population at3,000. The Statoil-financed study led by University of Washingtonbiologist Samuel Wasser focused on just a portion of the animal shabitat within Sag-D alley, south of Fort McMurray betweenAnzac and Conklin and highways 663 and 881, during the winters of2006, 2007 and 2009. Tracking scat to come up with population figures and betterunderstand how animals are interacting is based on a method firstdeveloped in Africa to track elephants and their poachers. But longtime researchers, like University of Alberta biologicalscientist Stan Boutin, argue most woodland caribou herds aredeclining, heading toward tiny populations by 2050 if no changesare made. A leading solution, at the moment, is culling wolves. Boutin argued the scat study conclusions could send a damagingmessage to policy-makers and industry, however. He and fellowscientists from the U of A, the provincial government, and otherorganizations wrote a rebuttal article published in the samejournal. Whereas the Statoil study concludes managers have time to meditateon caribou recovery, Boutin said, We think the data suggests theexact opposite, that we have very little time to act, and if wedon t get going quickly, we re going to lose the individuals inthat population very soon. ... We ve seen a substantial increasein the number of wolves that are overlapping more with caribou inthe caribou habitat. Statoil is now experimenting with a wolf rerouting project to deterwolves from woodland caribou habitat. They have set up cameras tomonitor whether strategically placed logs and closed-off corridorswill work, an alternative to killing wolves. If the wolves want to run through the forest, they ll runthrough the forest. But if you can take the cutline away, they lltypically go find another cutline, Shopik said. We ll make itmore difficult for wolves to get at woodland caribou. Later this month, Statoil plans to share the findings of thescat-tracking study with residents of Conklin, about 360 kilometresnortheast of Edmonton. The Canadian Association of PetroleumProducers also recently recognized the company for its innovativeenvironmental performance in undertaking the work. We re wanting to contribute to the knowledge base of woodlandcaribou, Shopik said. Statoil is in the business to produceoil, we re not a wildlife manager. But we understand that ouractivities can have an impact on wildlife. taudette@edmontonjournal.com. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Softener Flakes Manufacturer , China Hydrophilic Softener for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Nonionic Softener Flakes.
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