Unwelcome guests showing up at Lac de Gras diamond mines are becoming a concern for both the diamond industry and the territorial government.
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 14/01) - Exposed electrical wires posed a fire danger, 25,000 litres of sewage lay spilled on the tundra and the safety of workers was being threatened.
That was the emergency situation BHP described in a fax sent earlier this year.
| Wolverine facts Source: Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development |
As production continues to grow wolverines are becoming an increasing problem at mining camps in the Lac de Gras area.
In the weeks before it received the Jan. 9 fax from BHP's Misery camp, the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development had taken calls from both Diavik and BHP about wolverines at their camps.
Spokesperson Graham Nicholls said where BHP is concerned, the wolverine problem is confined to the construction camp at the Misery pit, being developed this year. The temporary camp, located 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, is used by 100 people working at the site.
Director of Wildlife and Fisheries Doug Stewart said the department's goal is to avoid any loss of animals.
"We'll continue to work closely with industry to try to deal with these problems as they come up," said Stewart, adding the diamond mining companies in the area have been very co-operative.
Nicholls said BHP will be putting up an electrical fence around the site this summer, skirting buildings and conducting wildlife awareness programs with employees. Wildlife officers flew to the Misery camp the day after RWED received the fax. From Jan. 10-14 RWED killed one and captured another at the camp.
Two more were captured at nearby Diavik. The three captures were relocated. Nine red foxes were also killed during the visit. "Relocating merely serves as a quick-fix solution and does not provide sufficient incentive to diligently deal with the primary source of the 'problem' -- the inadvertent mismanagement of food waste and odours," wrote Stewart in a Feb. 14 letter to BHP.
Wildlife officers said they suspect camp staff have been feeding foxes which, in turn, attract wolverines. Studies indicate wolverines will follow fox tracks in hopes of finding food. Wolverines prey on foxes. "We have a strict policy about (feeding animals)," said Nicholls.
"It's not to be done by our employees or contractors."
The area fox population is very high this year, contributing to the problem, Nicholls said.
It has become apparent that wolverines were underestimated when garbage management was planned for Lac De Gras camps.
Stewart noted there is evidence that at Diavik the animals have scaled eight-foot-high chain-link fences topped with three strands of barbed wire.
