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by Jennifer Dart
The Westerly News
June 29, 2005

Intensive field studies on wolves and cougars are getting underway this summer in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (PRNPR).

Park warden Bob Hansen is leading the studies into these local carnivores to come to a better basic understanding about their habitat needs and how increased visitation to the parks and general growth in the area is affecting them.

Hansen has already completed two years of groundwork leading up to the projects that will be carried out by University of Victoria masters student Danielle Thompson, University of British Columbia PhD student Simone Runyan, and University of Northern British Columbia field assistant Todd Windle. The students are being funded with the help of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grants, the PRNPR and the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust.

Hansen says park staff acted in a largely reactive manner to several animal/human interactions leading up to the studies. Hansen is hopeful the information coming out of his and the students' work over the next two years will help in advancing knowledge about the lives of these animals and how best to protect them.

The Broken Group Islands and the West Coast Trail are two of the most visited backcountry portions of Canadian parks and high human usage "is something I don't think will go away," says Hansen.

Thompson will be concentrating her efforts on the West Coast Trail where she will be looking for patterns in cougar habitat by locating scat and footprints, sometimes with the help of a tracking dog. Runyan and Windle will be working in both the Long Beach unit and the Broken Group, looking for similar signs of wolves. The students point out part of examining the behaviour of these animals is locating the patterns of their prey as well.

The researchers will be concentrating on using non-invasive methods - gathering DNA from the outside layer of scat, as well as using "track pads" soft sand or dirt to get paw imprints, "scent stamps" where the animal rubs up against a tree scented by the researchers to track individual animals as well as get a general idea of populations for each animal and which areas they frequent.

Both Thompson and Runyan have previously worked in the Rockies at Banff National Park. Thompson points out tracking large carnivores was easier there, where the animals left visible tracks in the snow. The West Coast presents a difficult study area for the students, with its rainy weather, dense forests, and fluctuating tides that can cover up clues.

The students are hopeful they will help in developing effective monitoring protocol for park staff, so they can more easily monitor the carnivore population in the park. Thompson also says developing effective techniques in a coastal environment is one of their goals.

Just before our meeting, Hansen had been informed of a cougar incident on the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet.

In a later interview with the Westerly, the person who reported the incident - Barb Gudbranson of Ucluelet - said she heard something that sounded like a human screaming in Spring Cove late one night. The next day she found a kill site of a deer and called the conservation officer, who informed her the cougar was likely a juvenile because older cougars wouldn't draw so much attention to their kill with howling. The officer told her nothing would be done to interfere with the animal because its behaviour was not out of the ordinary.

In leaving and reporting the incident Gucbranson acted exactly as the researchers and park staff recommend when encountering a wolf or cougar.

The researchers and Hansen also say it is important to condition the animals to avoid humans if they are encountered directly. By scaring the animal off - yelling or making some other loud noise - you are protecting it from learning harmful behaviour. This will hopefully condition the animal to stay away from campsites and neighborhoods, despite the presence of easy food.

With non-encounters, such as finding a kill site, the area should be left immediately, says Hansen.

Windle says it would be useful for the researchers to hear about any encounters or kill sites in order to assist in their research.

Hansen says another project involving the social reaction to large carnivores has begun in the park to gauge our reaction to these animals and further education about them. He says it's clear our behaviours are affecting these animals; we are not observers in their fate, but rather have a dynamic relationship with them.

Ultimately, the researchers are looking to help in the long-term conservation of both the region and these animals in the area.

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Copyright The Westerly News, a Canwest Company. Reproduction of this article or photographs, in whole or in part, is illegal without the written consent of The Westerly News (westnews@ukeecable.net).
The Westerly News is published each Wednesday in Ucluelet. Phone: 250 726-7029


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