https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/moose-mating-project-expands-in-n-b-n-s-1.1969677&ct=ga&cd=CAEYAioUMTY0MzkyODU5MTM4NzU2MDc0MjQyGjNiYjU3MDBkYmE0ZWU1MmQ6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNEjSPXXV1eT2YfEwikrZceQVCOfzA
The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, August 21, 2014 12:01PM EDT
Moose mating project expands in N.B., N.S.
A moose is pictured in Cookville, New Brunswick. The Nature
Conservancy of Canada has more land for a program that
promotes cross-border moose love along the Nova Scotia
-New Brunswick boundary. (HO, Nature Conservancy of Canada -
Mike Dembeck/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, August 21, 2014 12:01PM EDT
AMHERST, N.S. -- More land has been set aside to encourage the migration of New Brunswick's healthy moose population into mainland Nova Scotia, where the species is endangered.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says 198 hectares of land has been conserved in the latest acquisition to its so-called moose sex project.
In total, 1,012 hectares of land has been conserved on the Chignecto Isthmus, which links the two provinces.
The isthmus serves as a habitat for moose, lynx and bobcats, among other species.
The additional land was contributed through a federal government program for conserving natural areas.
Disappearing Mainland Moose
I'm shivering in snow and slush six inches deep in a secluded paddock at the , shuffling from foot to foot in the raw cold of a damp December morning. I'm watching as Dr. Scott McBurney, a wildlife pathologist from Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre in , with Dr. Art Ortenburger and his team of technicians and staff from the wildlife park, try again and again to extract a sample of spinal fluid from the neck of the unconscious moose laid out in the snow.
The moose, for his part, lies still, his tongue lolling from his mouth, wheezing a soft guttural groan with each breath. It took about 10 minutes for the legs of the two and a half year old to buckle, collapsing the 600lb body on to the snow, after park superintendent Bert Vissers fired a tranquilizer laden dart into his hip. His undersized horns look more like deer antlers sprouting from the massive head.
Scott McBurnie has performed autopsies on 70 or so moose carcasses delivered to his laboratory at the in . Those specimens became available either because of poaching or road kill. Of those specimens, 34 per cent, were road kill. The parasite (p.tenuis) known as brain worm killed 28 per cent. Starvation took 13 per cent, incidental causes 9 per cent, and 6 per cent died of other neurological reasons.
This moose was serving as only his third opportunity in nearly a decade of investigation to conduct a forensic examination of blood, spinal fluid and other elements of moose health on a living example of the species. The young male specimen came to the attention of Bert Vissers when a telephone call came in reporting its odd behaviour, including mingling with a herd of beef cattle.
That signaled the strong possibility of a neurological disorder. Vissers decided it would be worth the effort to capture the animal and bring him to the park where his behaviour could be closely observed. Since his benign incarceration, the new addition to the park's menagerie has come along, fattening up on his carefully monitored diet, and losing his somewhat scraggly appearance.
Behaviour observed, measurements taken, a foreleg injury examined ; with blood and spinal fluid safely tucked away for transport, the subject moose was left to come to his senses. He would awake, according to Vissers "…with one hell of a headache", but otherwise none the worse for wear.
For his part, Scott McBurnie returned to his laboratory in Charlottetown to analyze his samples to determine whether they can provide a piece to the decades long puzzle-why the numbers of moose inhabiting mainland continue their precipitous decline, despite a closed season on hunting since 1981.
It's not the first time the mainland the mainland moose herd has come close to extirpation. There were plenty of moose roaming the hills and valleys before white settlers cut down the forest and cleared the land for farming. No one knows for sure, but given the greater availability of habitat and food supply before the arrival of the Europeans, estimates place the size of the mainland moose herd at more than 15,000 animals.
Indeed, the aboriginal people depended upon the moose in much the same way that plains tribes depended upon the buffalo-a source of food, clothing and shelter. It could be fairly said that the aboriginal culture was a moose culture. In the early 17th century the French explorer reported back to his sponsors an ocean away that the moose was "…the most abundant food which the savages have, except fish".
The notion that the supply of animals could never be exhausted was clearly in evidence, with nary a season or a limit to curtail the numbers the settlers and the native people began to kill for commerce. By the end of the 1600s, there were no moose left on , and the natives fled the island for the mainland in search of game with which to feed themselves.
The slaughter continued unabated. Moose hides had commercial value. The aboriginal hunters hunted moose and traded the skins with white traders for food, cloth and the usual amenities. In one year in the late 1600s, more than 3,000 hides were shipped back to .
The pillage continued after the British won Acadie from the French in the mid 1700s. The demand for moose and beaver pelts in brought both species to near extinction. By 1825 only a few thousand moose survived in the woodlands. Protective legislation and closed seasons through the 18th century brought the population back until, early in the 20th century, their numbers were near or at their pre-settlement peak. That didn't last. The decline set in again, mostly because of increased hunting pressure. The open season was closed in 1938, then re-opened in some counties, closed and opened again. By the mid 70s surveys counted 1,600 to 1,700 animals. Moose hunting on the mainland ended for good in 1981.
But the population decline continued. The eastern moose (Alces alces americana), existing only in pockets of isolated woodlands scattered around the mainland, is now believed to total about 1,000 to 1,200 animals young and old, of both sexes; and the reproductive rate is considered to be low.
In 2003, with the clear potential for extinction looming, the government of declared the mainland moose to be "endangered" under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act.
Back in the 1880s, when moose were extirpated from the highlands and everywhere else on , there was no such provision in the laws of the province. As a result, the island became mooseless for nearly 60 years. It was not until moose from , a much larger sub-species (Andersoni) to the native eastern moose, were released (in 1948-49) and carefully managed, that a harvestable population was developed and limited open seasons once again permitted.
The success in maintaining the Cape Breton herd, while the mainland herd, only a few hundred kilometres away is in peril, is the conundrum Scott McBurney is trying to unravel through scientific investigation. His employer, Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre (CCWHC), has been contracted by the Nova Scotia to conduct the necessary forensic analyses to come up with scientific answers to physiological clues in the health and condition of the animals.
The organization's regional office is located at the , attached to the , in Charlottetown. It's a national organization set up to serve the interests of wildlife health in veterinary colleges across the country, by applying veterinary medical sciences to wildlife conservation and management.
Dr. McBurney's investigations form part of an ambitious "Recovery Plan for Moose in Mainland Nova Scotia", compiled by a panel of biologists and wildlife specialists assembled by the provincial government and publicly announced in the spring of 2007.
Ideas and theories abound as to why the herd does not rebound on its own, given an absence of concerted hunting pressure. The Recovery Plan must first come to some conclusions as to why this is so, before it can recommend remedial measures to government. It has five years to come up with a workable plan.
The executive summary of the document says... "The overall goal of this recovery plan is to maintain the population of mainland moose in Nova Scotia within their current range".
To achieve that goal the plan will "maintain and enhance the current population and distribution … mitigate threats that limit recovery … initiate research … maintain and enhance habitat".
The society set forth its views in a paper written by Scott Brown, Project manager of the society's Moose Recovery Project.
Mr. Brown goes well beyond the need for restoration of the mainland moose to provide a huntable animal for Nova Scotian hunters.
"Moose have inherent value", he writes. "Doing everything in our power to restore the population is the moral and ethical thing to do.. Moose are a wilderness icon embodying the wild spirit of Nova Scotia. Moose are a icon, a widely accepted symbol of our rich natural heritage."
...there is little doubt that the moose occupies a special place in the Canadian ethos.... Scotia's wild heritage, according to CPAWS, citing the moose as "the canary in the coal mine." Whether you believe the animal represents the royalty and majesty of the woods, or is simply proof that God has a sense of humour, there is little doubt that the moose occupies a special place in the Canadian ethos.
Either way ,we are always worse off in some respect if we allow an animal species to go the way of the , the , the Atlantic Walrus and other once plentiful animal and avian species-if we can do something about it.
I'm shivering in snow and slush six inches deep in a secluded paddock at the , shuffling from foot to foot in the raw cold of a damp December morning. I'm watching as Dr. Scott McBurney, a wildlife pathologist from Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre in , with Dr. Art Ortenburger and his team of technicians and staff from the wildlife park, try again and again to extract a sample of spinal fluid from the neck of the unconscious moose laid out in the snow.The moose, for his part, lies still, his tongue lolling from his mouth, wheezing a soft guttural groan with each breath. It took about 10 minutes for the legs of the two and a half year old to buckle, collapsing the 600lb body on to the snow, after park superintendent Bert Vissers fired a tranquilizer laden dart into his hip. His undersized horns look more like deer antlers sprouting from the massive head.
Scott McBurnie has performed autopsies on 70 or so moose carcasses delivered to his laboratory at the in . Those specimens became available either because of poaching or road kill. Of those specimens, 34 per cent, were road kill. The parasite (p.tenuis) known as brain worm killed 28 per cent. Starvation took 13 per cent, incidental causes 9 per cent, and 6 per cent died of other neurological reasons.
This moose was serving as only his third opportunity in nearly a decade of investigation to conduct a forensic examination of blood, spinal fluid and other elements of moose health on a living example of the species. The young male specimen came to the attention of Bert Vissers when a telephone call came in reporting its odd behaviour, including mingling with a herd of beef cattle.
That signaled the strong possibility of a neurological disorder. Vissers decided it would be worth the effort to capture the animal and bring him to the park where his behaviour could be closely observed. Since his benign incarceration, the new addition to the park's menagerie has come along, fattening up on his carefully monitored diet, and losing his somewhat scraggly appearance.
Behaviour observed, measurements taken, a foreleg injury examined ; with blood and spinal fluid safely tucked away for transport, the subject moose was left to come to his senses. He would awake, according to Vissers "…with one hell of a headache", but otherwise none the worse for wear.
For his part, Scott McBurnie returned to his laboratory in Charlottetown to analyze his samples to determine whether they can provide a piece to the decades long puzzle-why the numbers of moose inhabiting mainland continue their precipitous decline, despite a closed season on hunting since 1981.
It's not the first time the mainland the mainland moose herd has come close to extirpation. There were plenty of moose roaming the hills and valleys before white settlers cut down the forest and cleared the land for farming. No one knows for sure, but given the greater availability of habitat and food supply before the arrival of the Europeans, estimates place the size of the mainland moose herd at more than 15,000 animals.Indeed, the aboriginal people depended upon the moose in much the same way that plains tribes depended upon the buffalo-a source of food, clothing and shelter. It could be fairly said that the aboriginal culture was a moose culture. In the early 17th century the French explorer reported back to his sponsors an ocean away that the moose was "…the most abundant food which the savages have, except fish".
The notion that the supply of animals could never be exhausted was clearly in evidence, with nary a season or a limit to curtail the numbers the settlers and the native people began to kill for commerce. By the end of the 1600s, there were no moose left on , and the natives fled the island for the mainland in search of game with which to feed themselves.
The slaughter continued unabated. Moose hides had commercial value. The aboriginal hunters hunted moose and traded the skins with white traders for food, cloth and the usual amenities. In one year in the late 1600s, more than 3,000 hides were shipped back to .
The pillage continued after the British won Acadie from the French in the mid 1700s. The demand for moose and beaver pelts in brought both species to near extinction. By 1825 only a few thousand moose survived in the woodlands. Protective legislation and closed seasons through the 18th century brought the population back until, early in the 20th century, their numbers were near or at their pre-settlement peak. That didn't last. The decline set in again, mostly because of increased hunting pressure. The open season was closed in 1938, then re-opened in some counties, closed and opened again. By the mid 70s surveys counted 1,600 to 1,700 animals. Moose hunting on the mainland ended for good in 1981.
But the population decline continued. The eastern moose (Alces alces americana), existing only in pockets of isolated woodlands scattered around the mainland, is now believed to total about 1,000 to 1,200 animals young and old, of both sexes; and the reproductive rate is considered to be low.
In 2003, with the clear potential for extinction looming, the government of declared the mainland moose to be "endangered" under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act.
Back in the 1880s, when moose were extirpated from the highlands and everywhere else on , there was no such provision in the laws of the province. As a result, the island became mooseless for nearly 60 years. It was not until moose from , a much larger sub-species (Andersoni) to the native eastern moose, were released (in 1948-49) and carefully managed, that a harvestable population was developed and limited open seasons once again permitted.
The success in maintaining the Cape Breton herd, while the mainland herd, only a few hundred kilometres away is in peril, is the conundrum Scott McBurney is trying to unravel through scientific investigation. His employer, Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre (CCWHC), has been contracted by the Nova Scotia to conduct the necessary forensic analyses to come up with scientific answers to physiological clues in the health and condition of the animals.
The organization's regional office is located at the , attached to the , in Charlottetown. It's a national organization set up to serve the interests of wildlife health in veterinary colleges across the country, by applying veterinary medical sciences to wildlife conservation and management.
Dr. McBurney's investigations form part of an ambitious "Recovery Plan for Moose in Mainland Nova Scotia", compiled by a panel of biologists and wildlife specialists assembled by the provincial government and publicly announced in the spring of 2007.
Ideas and theories abound as to why the herd does not rebound on its own, given an absence of concerted hunting pressure. The Recovery Plan must first come to some conclusions as to why this is so, before it can recommend remedial measures to government. It has five years to come up with a workable plan.
The executive summary of the document says... "The overall goal of this recovery plan is to maintain the population of mainland moose in Nova Scotia within their current range".
To achieve that goal the plan will "maintain and enhance the current population and distribution … mitigate threats that limit recovery … initiate research … maintain and enhance habitat".
The society set forth its views in a paper written by Scott Brown, Project manager of the society's Moose Recovery Project.
Mr. Brown goes well beyond the need for restoration of the mainland moose to provide a huntable animal for Nova Scotian hunters.
"Moose have inherent value", he writes. "Doing everything in our power to restore the population is the moral and ethical thing to do.. Moose are a wilderness icon embodying the wild spirit of Nova Scotia. Moose are a icon, a widely accepted symbol of our rich natural heritage."
...there is little doubt that the moose occupies a special place in the Canadian ethos.... Scotia's wild heritage, according to CPAWS, citing the moose as "the canary in the coal mine." Whether you believe the animal represents the royalty and majesty of the woods, or is simply proof that God has a sense of humour, there is little doubt that the moose occupies a special place in the Canadian ethos.
Either way ,we are always worse off in some respect if we allow an animal species to go the way of the , the , the Atlantic Walrus and other once plentiful animal and avian species-if we can do something about it.
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