Researchers and their collaborators set up cameras and recorders being use din a wildlife study. Photo supplied

By Curtis Galbraith

Wildlife

Wildlife research project described as “unique and collaborative” underway

Feb 24, 2020 | 5:18 AM

Some trappers and municipalities in the Peace Country are working with two groups on some new research.

They are working with Northwest Species at Risk and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute on a project that uses cameras and recorders to monitor wildlife, especially at-risk species like the Woodland Caribou.

Hayley Gavin with the Species at Risk group says they decided to do this research because previous data was out-of-date.

“When the government released a recovery plan for the boreal caribou, there were quite a lot of people that were upset and not really believing that the data that was being used was as accurate as it could be.”

Gavin says cameras and recorders have been set up in two caribou ranges, one in the Chinchaga area west of Manning, the other northeast of High Level.

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Ten mammal species plus birds are being looked at.

Gavin adds they were hoping to study all five caribou ranges in that area.

“We have limited resources. We did apply for federal funding, but we were unsuccessful. The group is actually funding the research themselves. They narrowed the search area down to two ranges, one being the Chinchaga and (the other) the Caribou Mountains, just to make sure that every municipality has some research going on in their backyard.”

She says it is important to have the local knowledge trappers can provide.

“We did get a lot of feedback from the trappers, particularly around the habitat disturbance levels that some of these lines that can be seen from satellite imagery perhaps don’t exist anymore.”

Gavin says this is a three-year project but could be extended, depending on funding. The first report will be out in June of 2021. It would be available on-line from the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. Anyone interested can also look at the pictures and listen to the audio gathered.

The cameras will take a picture every two hours and are also motion-triggered. There will be 75 cameras deployed in each study area.

Trappers are responsible for checking the cameras and the batteries in them once a year.

The recorders have what Gavin describes as a “large memory” and would record all sounds when they are triggered. A dozen recorders are out in each study area. (see map below).

Similar studies are being done in Northeastern Alberta and in Saskatchewan. Gavin says this is “a continuous area of monitoring under the same parameters.”