Bears stable on western Hudson Bay
Media sensationalism can undermine GN's efforts, says biologist
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, February 12, 2014
KIVALLIQ
The Government of Nunavut (GN) has begun gathering input from every Nunavut community to draft the territory's polar bear management plan.
Government of Nunavut research shows the female survival and reproduction rates of the western Hudson Bay polar bear population have levelled during the past five to eight years. - photo courtesy Mike Johnson |
The tour begins following the release of a 2011 GN aerial survey on the western Hudson Bay population, showing it to be far more stable than predicted by earlier outside studies done primarily in Manitoba.
Those studies estimated the western Hudson Bay population to be more than 900 bears, but predicted by 2011 that number would drop to between 600 to 700 bears.
The GN aerial survey showed the western Hudson Bay population to be about 1,000 bears.
A 2011 population estimate based on capture-recapture analysis done by Environment Canada substantiated the GN results.
The GN management tour began in the Kitikmeot this past week and should hit Kivalliq communities between late-February to mid-March.
Nunavut Department of the Environment polar bear biologist Markus Dyck said the GN is consulting with local hunters and trappers associations and community residents on how to incorporate information, potential community concerns and regional differences into the management plan.
He said the earlier predictions in the Manitoba studies were a concern for Inuit hunters, whose opinion was the population looked relatively healthy and there didn't look like there was any decline.
"The Nunavut aerial survey is the first study that actually looks at the complete management unit, or study area," said Dyck.
"All previous work looked at either one core area close to Churchill or had one or two different core areas of interest.
"The estimates on western Hudson Bay that are not related to the GN's aerial survey are representative of a subset of the overall population.
"It's really difficult to assess the status of western Hudson Bay at some point if you never really had a full coverage of the area."
Dyck said the aerial survey is a good starting point (in base information that covers the complete area) to monitor the population's development going forward.
He said taking all traditional and scientific information into account, the western Hudson Bay population seems to be stable.
"It also seems female survival and reproductive rates have levelled, and seem to be on par with the past five to eight years, or so.
"So, at this time, the population is not as it's portrayed sometimes in the media.
"It's a population that requires good monitoring because we know there have been changes in the sea ice, although maybe less so during the past 10 years.
"Looking at break-up dates, the sea ice has not changed significantly during that time, so there seems to be some stability in the system."
Dyck said the sensationalizing of information on Nunavut polar bears by the southern media can drive a wedge between Nunavut biologists and the communities they're trying to work with.
He said he also wonders about the agendas of biologists feeding information to the southern media's frenzy.
"They don't really go and talk to people in Nunavut.
"They get most of their information from biologists who work in the south and write papers based on data they get from a second or third party.
"Some biologists are borderline between being an objective scientist or an advocate for certain issues.
"And there's also the humane societies and other organizations that are truly advocates for certain purposes."
Dyck said some biologists Markus Dyckare, to a certain degree, dangerously close to becoming outright activists.
He said their approach makes life difficult for those trying hard to make a real difference in Nunavut.
"When there's biologists spouting off somewhere and making all different kinds of comments - or newspapers print something about Nunavut polar bears - the communities pick up on it very quickly.
"They think biologists are all the same, giving doomsday prognosis for Nunavut polar bears and saying all the bears are going to die.
"It can be difficult to overcome the media frenzy, advocacies and different terminologies that are thrown around.
"You sometimes have a bipolar-type behaviour, where southern biologists and activists make life in the North more difficult when you're trying to deal with specific issues on wildlife-related topics."
Dyck said Inuit know better because they've lived in areas with caribou, polar bears and other species for a very long time.
But, he said, it can be difficult for Nunavut biologists to escape the stereotyping caused by southern sensationalism.
"We're trying really, really hard in the regions to work with the communities and gain their trust and some biologists make that hard to do.
"All the effort the GN is putting into this is sometimes undermined by somebody giving interviews with opinions that just don't jive with the reality of what's going on in Nunavut."
