Grizzly Bear Research Project
by Spruce Gerberding
Wildlife Technician Trainee
(PCMB Summer Student)
July 2006
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| Spruce Gerberding |
As a summer student working in Dawson City for the Porcupine Caribou Management Board as a Wildlife Technician Trainee, I had the opportunity to participate in the Yukon North Slope Grizzly Bear Research Project.
The six year project began in May of 2004. It was designed to provide information on population size, birth rate, death rate, and the movement of grizzly bears on the North Slope of the Yukon. The focus of this summer's work was to set up the first DNA mark-recapture grid. Let me explain.
In order to obtain a population census of bears between the Firth and Blow Rivers, 107 hair trapping stations were set up, each within a separate 7 km x 7 km cell within the study area. The stations consisted of a triangular barbed-wire fence surrounding a small pile of bear lure.
The idea is that the bears are attracted by the lure's scent, and they will leave behind hairs on the barbed wire when trying to go under the fence. The hairs are then collected every nine days throughout the summer to be later analyzed for DNA. The project will provide the first population survey for grizzly bears on the North Slope since 1975. The information from this study will be used to update grizzly bear harvest quotas in the area.
The first leg of the journey involved flying to Inuvik on the May 29. Upon heading to Inuvik, I really didn't know what to expect. Despite growing up in Dawson City, I had never been north of the Arctic Circle. The difference in latitude became immediately obvious. As the leaves of summer were slowly emerging in my home town, winter was still clinging on in Inuvik. Snow could be seen almost everywhere, and the cold arctic wind bit into any exposed skin.
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| Martin Kienzler of Environment Yukon mixing the bear lure |
Our time in Inuvik was spent preparing for the fieldwork, which included mixing the lure. Now if this lure didn't work, I don't know what would. Needless to say, the stuff stank! The concoction consisted of 100 liters of liquefied rotten roadkill (chunks included) mixed with 60 liters of french fry oil and 30 liters of fish fertilizer. I don't know what was worse, the initial smell of the lure and subsequent gag reflex, or the fact that I got used to it and barely noticed the smell by the end of the study. I didn't think it was possible to become habituated to something so disgusting.
On June 1 our crew of five flew to Shingle Point on the north coast of the Yukon. The crew consisted of Ramona Maraj, the carnivore biologist for the Yukon and project leader; Al Baer and Martin Kienzler, both wildlife technicians; Leon Bush, the helicopter pilot; and me. For the next seven days we slept in a small Conservation Officer's cabin next to the Arctic Ocean and flew around the North Slope of the Yukon in a helicopter.
After a day and a half of preparation, we were ready to begin setting up the fences. To get an idea of the task at hand we decided to set up a practice fence on the second night. Ramona's goal was to be able to set up each fence in 10 minutes. After we set up the first fence, I was convinced that that goal was impossible. It took us 26 minutes to get a lousy, loose fence erected. However, after a couple days of non-stop fence building, the setup time as well as the quality of the fence improved. Still 10 minutes seemed like an unattainable goal.
Finally, on the last day, after a week of setting up fences and with the end in sight, we surpassed the goal by setting up two consecutive fences in 9 minutes. In a cruel twist of irony, it was just as we were getting efficient and working best as a team that we completed the last fence.
Although we did complete the goal of 107 fences, it didn't always look like we would be able to. On our third day at Shingle Point we were grounded in a blizzard. It was easily the first June blizzard I have ever experienced. We weren't able to begin working again until around 8:00 that night, which ended up throwing our schedule off for the rest of the week. Lucky for us we were able to use the 24-hour sunlight to its full advantage – we worked until 4:00 a.m. after the blizzard. For the rest of the week our working hours were from 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., with one night/workday going until 7:00 a.m.! Our typical work day was around 12 hours long, but the work made it pass quickly. Time of day no longer mattered, just as long as the job got done.
During my time on the North Slope, I was fortunate to see many amazing aspects of nature. The Porcupine Caribou Herd could be seen throughout the study area. Presumably on their way to their vital calving grounds in Alaska, the herd covered the landscape with tiny brown dots.
After a couple days, the number of caribou on the coastal plain seemed to double. Sometime around June 5 it seemed that every cow gave birth at once. Tiny calves now hobbled along next to each cow – the annual burst of life on the coastal plain began again with the calving of the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
The calves were remarkable in their ability to instantly be mobile on the rough and uneven tundra. Interestingly, nearly all calves would run underneath their moms as we flew high above them, likely a defense mechanism for predators such as golden eagles.
We were fortunate to witness so much calving activity in the Yukon. Normally, the herd migrates to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the Alaskan coastal plain to give birth. This year, however, the majority of calving occurred within Ivvavik National Park in the Yukon.
Coinciding with the birth of the calves was the appearance of their predators, mainly grizzly bears and wolves. After completing their breeding season, as evident by our witnessing of two bears in the mating process, grizzly bears emerged from the foothills to take advantage of the new source of food. Despite being the focus of our study, we did not spot a bear on the coastal plain until the fourth day of fieldwork, right about the time calving started. By the end of the trip we were seeing grizzly bears frequently, sometimes in areas dangerously close to some of our fence setup areas. Thankfully, I was not the one in charge of the lure.
Along with grizzly bears, other wildlife was observed in the study area. We spotted a pack of wolves as we were preparing to set up a fence. Musk-ox herds were easily visible from the air. Moose were more difficult to see within the riverside willows, but they could be spotted with a watchful eye. Smaller creatures such as foxes and birds were also prominent.
Perhaps the most interesting sighting on the trip was of an old airplane wreck within the British Mountains of Ivvavik National Park. On one side of a mountain could be found the engines, propellers and scattered debris of the aircraft; on the other side was the front end of the main body and a lone wing much further down in the valley. Looking at the wreckage suggested that the plane hit near the top of the mountain, allowing part of it to roll over onto the other side. I later learned that the wreckage was from a military aircraft that had crashed there in the 1950s.
After seven days and 107 barbed-wire fences, it was time to go home. The first phase of the project was complete; it was now up to the bears to do their part. Although after smelling the lure, I wouldn't blame them for avoiding the fences entirely.
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