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Consultation over bison management More than half of Mackenzie bison population killed during last year's anthrax outbreak
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, August 29, 2013
DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be consulting with its co-management partners this fall about the future of the hunting ban on the Mackenzie bison population.
A hunting ban is still in effect for the Mackenzie bison population following a major anthrax outbreak last summer. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be consulting with its co-management partners this fall about how to proceed. - NNSL file photo
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The department and its co-management partners, including affected First Nations, other aboriginal groups and local communities, suspended harvesting following the major anthrax outbreak in the population last summer. The hunting ban is still in effect.
The department has limited management options for the population, said Terry Armstrong, the department's bison ecologist.
The department estimates more than half of the bison in the population died last year, the majority as the result of the outbreak, he said.
Natural mortality and a number of vehicle collisions with bison also factored into the decline.
Based on the results of an aerial survey conducted this past March, the department estimates there are 714 bison left in the Mackenzie bison range – a 20,000-square-kilometre area north of the Mackenzie River between Great Slave Lake and the Horn Plateau that extends north to Frank Channel.
A revised estimate from a count conducted a year ago showed 1,530 bison.
The numbers make the outbreak the largest on record in the territory. The next largest recorded number of bison killed by anthrax was 363 in 1964. In that case, some of the bison were in Wood Buffalo National Park, but most were outside the park in the Slave River Lowlands.
There have only been three outbreaks in the Mackenzie population, including one that killed 172 bison in 1993, and one that killed 9 in 2010. With 440 carcasses found in 2012, this outbreak was substantially larger.
The outbreak, which was first detected at the beginning of July 2012, extended across the whole range, said Armstrong. Normally, more bulls die in an outbreak, but in this case, the anthrax affected each segment of the population, including bulls, cows and calves equally. The outbreak was over by mid- August.
The outbreak doesn't seem to have had any residual effects on the population except the major reduction in numbers, Armstrong said. There is no reason why the population shouldn't rebound, he said.
When the population will reach its previous levels, if it will at all, will depend on habitat conditions and winter weather conditions, said Armstrong.
So far this year, there have been no signs of anthrax in the range. A few carcasses were found, but they didn't test positive.
"The reality is we cannot predict when these outbreaks will happen," he said.
There are a few theories about why there hasn't been a repeat outbreak.
This year, there might not have been the exact right conditions for an outbreak, which are believed to be a wet period followed by hot and dry conditions, said Armstrong. He also suspects many of the surviving bison were exposed to anthrax and possibly have some residual resistance as a result.
In the 2011-12 hunting season, 118 tags were available for the Mackenzie bison population.
Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge of Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation wasn't available to comment on the First Nation's thoughts about the hunting ban and future actions.
Calls to the Fort Providence Metis Council were not returned by press deadline.
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