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Keeping an eye on moose

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, November 22, 2007

DEH CHO - Moose in the Deh Cho have had eyes in the sky monitoring them for the past two weeks.

Starting on Nov. 15, staff with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have been conducting their annual moose monitoring survey. Together with community members, Nic Larter, the regional biologist, and Danny Allaire, a wildlife technician, have been counting moose numbers around the region.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Two bulls are spotted from the air as part of the ongoing moose monitoring survey in the Deh Cho. - photo courtesy of Danny Allaire-ENR

The November survey is part of an ongoing project that started in November 2003, said Larter.

Moose are a species that communities identified as an area of interest so two baseline surveys were conducted in November 2003 and February 2004 to determine the density of the moose population. The Deh Cho was broken into blocks that are each 16-kilometrees-square and residents were asked to identify where they thought moose are located.

The survey, which was conducted in airplanes, determined that moose could be found in the areas people had identified, said Larter. A density of 4.5 to five moose per 100-square-kilometres was established as a baseline.

Due to the cost of the survey, between $40,000 and $50,000, it was decided that large surveys would be held every five to eight years with small ones done in between to keep track of the population, Larter said.

The current survey is the fourth one held in November.

November is the best time of the year to conduct the survey because the bulls still have their antlers, making it easy to differentiate them from cows and calves.

"It gives us our best information on the sex of the moose we are seeing," he said.

November is also right after the main harvest is finished so the population density can be monitored to see how it relates to other times of the year, Larter said.

The survey establishes a population density instead of a population number because numbers are always changing, said Larter. He said counting moose is always a challenge.

Moose travel between areas so there can be a lot of variation from year to year when they are counted, he said. A density value establishes a better picture, said Larter.

To conduct the survey a total of approximately 70 blocks from the original survey are flown over. The blocks are around the communities of Wrigley, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie River, Nahanni Butte, and Fort Liard as well as a few in the Nahanni National Park Reserve. Members of the communities are invited on the flights to help count and verify the numbers.

The ease of spotting the moose depends on the conditions, said Edward (Chicky) Cholo, a Fort Simpson harvester who has been part of the survey for three years.

When it's frosty out, the moose are easier to spot because their dark colouring stands out. Sunny conditions are better than overcast days, said Cholo. Fresh snow also helps because you can see tracks in it.

When the muskeg hasn't frozen yet, the moose are harder to see because they stay on the solid ground in the bush where taller trees hide them, he said.

Conducting the survey is probably a good idea because it's something that hasn't been done before, Cholo said.

Based on the survey and his harvesting experience, Cholo is confident about the population.

"The moose population is pretty good," said Cholo.

Many people said the fall hunt was good this year, said Cholo, who personally shot four moose.

"All the moose I got were pretty fat," he said.

So far the surveys are showing that the moose density is staying consistent, said Larter.

"From the little snapshot we've done a few times in a row things are looking good," he said.

In addition to the survey, Larter said he also appreciates hearing from local hunters about how their harvests have gone.

"I've heard nothing but good things from this fall's set of moose," Larter said.