First Nations want to move more Caribou to Caribou Island
http://www.saultstar.com/2018/02/01/...s-to-hear-more
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First Nations want to move more Caribou to Caribou Island
http://www.saultstar.com/2018/02/01/...s-to-hear-more
THANKS BPR!
First Nation would pay,province wishes to ‘hear more’
By Ruth Fletcher
Thursday,February 1, 2018 7:28:29 EST PM
MONTREAL RIVER HARBOUR - Hope continues for the rescue of more caribou from Michipicoten Island.
Michipicoten First Nation (MFN) has requested permission from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to move some of the remaining caribou off of Michipicoten Island to create a back-up population on Caribou Island. MFN, with the help of private funding, is willing to pay for the translocation of the threatened species if MNRF will allow the move.
The Municipality of Wawa has given full support to the project. In a phone interview with Sault Star, Wawa Mayor Ron Rody said that MFN, MNRF and Wawa, working together would represent a “great new example of healing and co-operation.”
“Is reconciliation just words?” he said. “This is an example of really making it happen.”
However, in an e-mail to the Sault Star, Leo LaPiano, Michipicoten First Nation Lands and Resources conservation officer, said, the ministry staff is “balking” at MFN moving caribou to Caribou Island.
Private, remote, three- by one-kilometre, Caribou Island sits 35 kilometres south of Michipicoten Island and has been the home of caribou before. In the spring of 1771, Alexander Henry sailed out to Caribou Island, what he called “The Island of Yellow Sands,” to look for gold. He spent three days at the island and, while there, recorded in his journal that he and his party killed 13 caribou.
LaPiano said MNRF told the First Nation it didn’t want to make another management decision until it had broader “public engagement.”
“They told us that they don’t want to interfere,” LaPiano said. “There’s still too much uncertainty over whether the caribou might survive.”
The Michipicoten Island caribou herd, which began with a group of eight animals and expanded to a herd of about 680, thrived from 1982 until the winter of 2013/14. That is when four wolves made the 15-kilometre crossing on Lake Superior ice over to the island. The healthy wolf pack has grown to almost 20.
To assist the threatened caribou, MNRF moved one bull and nine cows to the Slate Islands in early January. In a recent email to Sault Star, MNRF media spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski said the province shares Michipicoten First Nation’s concern for caribou on the Michipicoten Island.
“That’s why we moved some of the caribou off the Island,” Kowalski said. “We know from past experience that anywhere from eight to 12 caribou is a sufficient number to help ensure the establishment of a breeding population. In fact, that’s exactly what happened on Michipicoten.”
During that translocation trip, eight wolves were radio-collared, six were new and two were recaptured to replace collars, Kowalski said.
“Eight female caribou on Michipicoten Island are collared,” she added.
Kowalski said the ministry has had an “initial discussion” with Michipicoten First Nation to hear its idea for moving remaining caribou to Caribou Island.
“We will continue discussions with Michipicoten First Nation to get more information and a better understanding of their proposal before any decisions are made,” she said. “We want to hear more from them (MFN) on the safety measures they would take to ensure that the operation would be conducted safely and appropriately for both the animals and those undertaking the work. We also want to learn more about the conditions on Caribou Island to make sure its landscape and food sources would be suitable for the long-term survival of the caribou.”
The translocation can be very hard on caribou. One of the cows in the move had to be euthanized on the Slate Islands due to an injury.
Kowalski said translocation poses a risk of caribou mortality due to a host of factors. In this incident, the caribou was injured during capture. Its condition was assessed by two veterinarians and, based on the ministry’s animal care protocol and the likelihood it would not survive, it was “humanely” euthanized.
The loss of this caribou has raised questions from Wawa resident Christian Schroeder.
“You can usually expect some loss (in the translocation of the caribou), but the issue is how it was being dealt with,” said Schroeder in a phone interview.
He wonders if the injured caribou could have been airlifted to a treatment facility, such as Sudbury’s world famous, not-for-profit clinic Wild At Heart.
“If they had taken the caribou to Wild At Heart, perhaps MNRF could have had a translocation injury instead of a translocation loss,” he said.
Gord Eason, a retired MNR biologist, said he believes that nothing will be lost if a group of the remaining caribou is moved to a safe location and then transported back to Michipicoten Island when the wolves are gone.
“It is basic conservation policy to make a back-up population,” he said. “They (MNRF) don’t want to move any more caribou because they think the remaining caribou can make it on Michipicoten Island.”
Eason, LaPiano and Schroeder, as well as the Municipality of Wawa, have all written letters to the new natural resources minister Nathalie Des Rosiers and Premier Kathleen Wynne, urging support MFN’s suggestion.
Rody said he hopes MNRF will take up the offer to create the back-up caribou population on Caribou Island.
“I don’t understand why they (MNRF) are not jumping at this opportunity,” he added. “It could be one of the first acts for the new minister and a wonderful legacy to conserve the caribou.”
If I was FN I would go to that island and shoot every wolf on it. I would take the collars off and walk in to the closest MNR office and put them on the counter. and say "have a nice day". Go ahead and charge me and then we'll get the Federal gov't involved.
We'll see who's the dog and who's the tail.
If this was any farmer, anywhere, and wolves were decimating his herd or flock then he'd have every right to take matters into his own hands. Even if they were the new poster child "Algonquin wolves "
I,am no expert on these matters but was it not the MNR that screwed this up right from the get go.How could they expect Caribou to be on an island with wolves and not expect this result.When the first wolves increased the pack size they should have culled some or moved them off the island.Quote:
Originally Posted by SK33T3R
i think i read in one of the other threads that the native population specifically asked the MNR for non-lethal measures against the wolves so i don't think they're willing to go shoot them. but yeah 3 years of inaction by the MNRF caused the undoing of 36 years worth of breeding. could have used that population as a seeding population for the rest of ontario but not anymore. infuriating.Quote:
Originally Posted by SK33T3R