Jean Marie resident's game plan scuttled by RWED
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Jean Marie River (Mar 30/01) - Upon retirement in Jean Marie River four years ago, Leonard Ireland planned to go into farming ... musk-ox farming.
Muskox: 'The animal with skin like a beard' The muskox is a grazing mammal that lives on Canada's arctic tundra year round. Superficially, the muskox resembles the bison, with humped shoulders and a long black coat, but it is more closely related to sheep and goats.
Source: Canadian Wildlife Service. |
Doug Stewart, director of wildlife and fisheries for RWED in Yellowknife, couldn't be reached for comment.
Paul Kraft, regional superintendent for RWED in Fort Simpson, said he's familiar with Ireland's quest, although it has been handled at a departmental level, not regionally.
Kraft described the issue as "very complex," and acknowledged that diseases and parasites, and the possibility of cross-species contamination, are among the concerns.
"That's a good part of the reasoning not to introduce species outside their normal area of occupation," he explained.
Ireland, a retired forestry worker and career development officer who grew up on a farm in northern Alberta, planned to use 26 acres of land adjacent to his home for the herd. The Jean Marie River First Nation has given him its consent, he noted.
To embark on such a venture would be quite costly. He said he hoped to acquire three cows, which bear offspring nearly every year, and cost approximately $10,000 per head. He also planned to buy one bull, for roughly $3,000, all from a game farm in Whitehorse.
When asked about musk-oxen existing in other jurisdictions, Kraft said most herds outside of wild ones in the far north are kept by institutions such as the University of Alaska for research purposes. He added that he's not familiar with an existing Yukon musk-oxen farm.
Ireland has already paid to have a business plan completed and has secured funding, he said. There would be relatively little development required, only a fence to confine the animals -- he said he's even willing to build a double fence.
"But Game (RWED) just said, 'No.'" he said, adding that he's not giving up on obtaining a game farm licence yet.
"It's my feeling that they (RWED) just don't want to do any work.
"If there was a farm established here they would have to come and do checks and that kind of stuff... they're supposed to be civil servants, not roadblocks," he said.
The main appeal in musk-oxen is their woolly hair, which sells for up to $18 (U.S.) an ounce, according to Ireland. An average musk-ox produces five pounds. of hair each year, he noted.
"They spin it into yarn and knit with it. It's eight times warmer than sheep's wool," he said.
Musk-oxen meat is also a specialty.
He added that the farm would also serve as a tourist attraction.
