Tag: wildlife

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Cottage Life

Canadian results from the 2022 State of the World’s Birds report

By Danita Delimont/Shutterstock

BirdLife International recently released its “State of the World’s Birds” report and it doesn’t look good for our feathered friends. Although conservation efforts have been attributed to the rebound of waterfowl and wetland birds like geese and ducks to the tune of about 150 per cent since the 1970s, overall, half of the world’s bird species are in decline, with one in eight facing extinction.

Birds Canada has been contributing vital data to the report, published every four years, and the information could ultimately save our birds.

“People feel like they can’t make a difference… and they can,” says Andrew Couturier, the senior director for landscape science and conservation with Birds Canada.

Canada also publishes our own “State of Canada’s Birds” report, most recently in 2019, which dials down our domestic bird issues, taking into consideration Canada can’t claim exclusive title to many birds, given their migration to other areas to winter or breed. An amazing 66 per cent of the trends concluded in the report came from volunteer citizen scientists, who populated data for breeding bird atlases, the Christmas Bird Count and eBird Canada checklists. In a world where information is power, it’s the monitoring of the numbers that informs the identification of threats, and where action would be most beneficial. Specifically, the establishment of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), key spots where birds may breed, feed, winter or gather while migrating, are designated with this species and location specific information.

8 ways to help birds during the fall migration

Those IBAs consider the needs of, and risks to, bird species, according to their specific habits. For instance, birds reliant on Canada’s native grasslands have declined a dramatic 87 per cent since 1970. The biggest reason? The increase in crop agriculture. But what volunteer led data showed was that cattle farmers may provide a solution, at least for some species. “Due to the conversion to agriculture in their breeding grounds, there’s hardly any habitat left. But now we have budding relationships with cattle ranchers, whose pastures mimic grassland habitat,” says Couturier. “When ranching is done properly, there’s a high diversity of other creatures as well.”

Hurricane Fiona’s devastation to Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and Newfoundland, whose intensity may be attributed to climate change, could be an example of what Canada’s shorebirds and seabirds are facing. Canada’s bird report states our shorebirds have declined by 40 per cent, but seabirds have been devastated with 55 of 58 species now of conservation concern. Couturier worries that Fiona may have destroyed vital habitat. “Our shorebirds aren’t there now, but when they come back, they may have no beach to breed on.” Monitoring birds that historically bred in these areas will be especially vital in the next few years.

Excepting species like the evening grosbeak that depend on the seeds and fruit of Canada’s mature forests (forest crop specialists have declined by 39 per cent), the rest of the 20 per cent of forest birds that stay in Canada during the winter have increased by 34 per cent. Unfortunately, those that migrate to South America have declined by 31 per cent. One of the actions Couturier recommends for those that migrate is buying bird friendly coffee. “Most coffee is from clear-cuts.” For birds who winter here, Canadians can advocate to save our mature trees and forests, limit pesticide use, and help to establish IBAs and networks of protected areas.

Help winter wildlife with tips from Hope for Wildlife

Pesticide use is also a big factor in the world’s reduction of insects, including pollinators. Birds like nighthawks, barn swallows, and bluebirds that feed by catching insects while flying, all once so plentiful their names included the words “common”, have decreased in numbers in Canada by 59 per cent since the 1980s. The signal this depletion sends is as relevant to humans as when coal miners used canaries.

But Couturier still believes that since we’ve turned the tide for endangered birds before, we can again, especially since data informs us now of where best to focus are efforts via the IBA’s. “If we make the case to landowners that have been doing something right or special…we’ll be helping landowners to steward. There are so many people that practice bird feeding, that are clearly interested in birds, but only a small proportion join in the programs.”

The IBAs have been so successful, they inspired KBAs, or Key Biodiversity Areas that encompass all forms of biodiversity. “We always knew that IBAs were bigger than birds,” says Couturier.

It’s hard to argue with the facts. According to the “State of the World’s Birds” report, between 21 and 32 bird species would have gone extinct sometime between 1993 and now, if it hadn’t been for conservation efforts.

The rebound of waterfowl and wetland birds, and the increase of about 110 per cent of birds of prey such as bald eagles and ospreys, are also greatly accredited to data led investment in conservation and cooperative stewardship of their habitats.

Why bald eagle populations have bounced back

Canada’s federal government is among many that has set a goal to protect 30 per cent of land and seas by 2030, and are increasingly using Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and the newer KBA designation to target the areas that will get the best results. According to Couturier, as of now about 17 per cent of that target has been met.

If we put the same amount of effort into saving our shore, grassland, and aerial insectivore birds, as we did with waterfowl, wetland, and birds of prey, what could we accomplish?

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Cottage Life

Jellyfish found in Sudbury-area lake

Photo by Rostislav Stefanek/ Shutterstock

This past summer, scuba divers in Sudbury discovered an unlikely form of aquatic life in the city’s Ramsey Lake. In late August, diving instructor Jason Fox captured a video of jellyfish, marking the first time the invasive species has been documented in Ontario outside of the Great Lakes. In a video, translucent, dime-sized craspedacusta sowerbii jellyfish pulsate with tentacles suspended in the water column. 

“It’s a crazy story and it’s received a lot of attention,” says John Gunn, Canada Research Chair in biology at Sudbury’s Laurentian University and the director of the Vale Living With Lakes Centre. “Jellyfish are usually thought of as marine species. People find it remarkable to learn that we have them here in freshwater.”

Fox told CBC that he “basically stopped counting” jellyfish after three weekend dives in Ramsey Lake, estimating to have seen 50 or more on September 11. His photos and video is the first evidence of jellyfish in Ramsey Lake, but Gunn suspects they’ve been around for perhaps a decade or more. Craspedacusta sowerbii, which is native to China’s Yangtze River, arrived in North America in the 1930s. “It likely came in ships’ ballast water or as part of the aquarium plants trade,” Gunn explains. “It is yet another example of the many species that have joined North American flora and fauna due to human movements.”

How to avoid spreading invasive species in lakes

The scientific literature suggests the freshwater jellyfish found in Ramsey Lake are innocuous. They eat microscopic phytoplankton in the water column, haven’t been linked to any adverse ecological effects, and swimmers don’t need to worry about the toxic stingers of some marine jellyfish. “They’re elegant and mesmerizing,” adds Gunn. “Divers and swimmers will really enjoy watching them in the water.”

Still, Gunn says the discovery is another cautionary tale of invasive species. “They aren’t like silver carp,” he notes, referencing the oversized exotic fish that have taken over waterways in the southern United States. Gunn hopes jellyfish in Ramsey Lake serve as a reminder of the ways humans have transported plants and animals all around the globe. “When you look at the lake,” he says, “realize that you’re glimpsing into a whole sea of biota that’s made its way here from elsewhere.

“We don’t have any specific concerns with jellyfish, but we do have to worry about others,” Gunn adds. “Stuff gets moved around in bait buckets and on motorboats. Humans are the vectors of countless nuisance species. We have to be extra cautious.”

 

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Amazon Prime Early Access Sale deals for the nature lover

Our editorial team independently selects these products. If you choose to buy any, we may earn a commission that helps fund our content. Learn more.

For bird lovers and wildlife enthusiasts, check out this selection of bird feeders, binoculars, and trailcams from the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale. And since nature gets up early, so do nature lovers, so don’t forget a coffee cup and gear for keeping warm.

 

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Cottage Life

Alberta grapples with a virus killing both wild and domesticated rabbits

Photo by Pixabay/Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz

Alberta is on the lookout for dead rabbits. The province has witnessed several cases of a deadly strain of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus known as RHDV2.

The virus has killed numerous rabbits over the last year, including five pet rabbits in Taber in May 2021, three young bunnies from a group of feral domestic rabbits—meaning they were either pets released into the wild or the offspring of pets—in northwest Edmonton in September 2021, and three colonies of feral domestic rabbits in Calgary between late August and early September 2022.

Previously, RHDV was only found in Alberta’s feral domestic rabbits, but among the most recent deaths was a wild mountain cottontail rabbit. The difference between wild and feral rabbits is that wild rabbits are native to the environment while feral rabbits come from stock once domesticated or imported from other countries. Wild rabbits were thought to be immune to RHDV, but the RHDV2 strain is infecting wild populations. This was the first wild rabbit found dead from the virus in the province, said Alberta’s Ministry of Environment and Parks in a report. The ministry wants to prevent the virus from becoming embedded in Alberta’s wild rabbit populations.

How to identify Canada’s 5 rabbit and hare species

Researchers first diagnosed RHDV in China in 1984. Since then, the virus has spread through Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, and some parts of Asia and Africa, the ministry said in an email.

In 2010, researchers diagnosed RHDV2, a new strain, among the European rabbit species in France. RHDV2 has since appeared in North America. Feral domestic populations of European rabbits were killed by the virus in Quebec in 2016, British Columbia in 2018, and Washington State in 2019.

RHDV2 has a mortality rate of 70 to 100 per cent. Once a rabbit is exposed, it can become sick within one to five days, and the virus will quickly tear through the rest of its colony. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the virus is spread between rabbits through direct contact with infected saliva, runny nose and eyes, urine, manure, blood, and infected fur or carcasses.

Common symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, groaning, blood spots in the eyes, frothy and bloody nose, and neurological symptoms, such as difficulty walking, seizures, or paralysis.

Beyond the wild mountain cottontail found dead in September, experts haven’t found the virus in any other wild rabbits in Alberta. But this doesn’t mean it won’t spread. Since the spring of 2020, the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico have experienced multiple outbreaks among their wild rabbit populations.

Arizona was the first state in the U.S. where the virus transferred from feral domestic rabbits to wild rabbits. In April 2020, a wild black-tailed jackrabbit and several wild cottontails were found dead from the virus.

“The virus escaped from captive and pet rabbits into adjacent feral populations of domestic rabbits as well as native wild rabbits and hares,” the ministry said. “The social nature and natural high density in populations of rabbits and hares facilitates viral transmission. All forms of rabbit haemorrhagic disease are highly contagious, with high mortality rates in susceptible species and populations.”

Environment and Parks’ Wildlife Disease Unit is monitoring wild hares, jackrabbits, and cottontail rabbits in the vicinity of outbreaks for signs of the virus. It’s also asked any members of the public to report sightings of groups of dead rabbits.

The ministry does stress that outside of rabbits and hares, RHDV2 is not contagious among humans, pets, livestock, or other animal species. But humans are helping to transmit the disease. By purchasing pet rabbits from questionable sources, not taking proper hygienic care of the rabbits and their enclosure, and abandoning pet rabbits in the wild, the virus can spread.

7 amazing facts about rabbits

To prevent further infections, the ministry suggests washing your hands, clothes, cages, and equipment between contacts with rabbits from different sources, only taking in rabbits from reputable sources, quarantining new rabbits away from existing ones for 30 days, using separate equipment for new or sick rabbits, and preventing all contact with wild rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits.

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Cottage Life

Canada-wide avian flu outbreaks cause wildlife centres to turn away some bird species

Photo by Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

Avian influenza outbreaks are occurring across the country at an unprecedented scale, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Martin Appelt, the senior director of the agency says this the largest flare-up of avian flu Canada has ever experienced. “We are not used to seeing avian influenza outbreaks exploding Canada-wide like this,” says Appelt, noting that nearly every province in the country has identified cases of the disease.

The Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre in Winnipeg, Man. is one of many animal organizations that have acted to limit the spread of avian influenza. The haven has stopped accepting two species of bird, Canada geese and the blue-winged teal, which they say they’ve seen a high number of cases in. 

“Based on what was coming into the center and also the calls that we were getting in terms of symptomatic animals, we made the decision to protect the animals that we have in care,” says Zoe Nakata, a spokesperson for the centre. Nakata suggests people call animal control agencies or local wildlife rehabilitation centres if they witness anything unusual—like mass die-offs—out in the wild. 

While Canada has dealt with outbreaks of avian flu in the past, those outbreaks were contained to specific geographical regions, says Appelt. By contrast, this current explosion is being experienced across the country and globe. 

Large outbreaks of avian influenza are typically tied to the changing of seasons as migratory birds move across the globe. While Canada saw large increases in cases in the spring and fall, the current outbreak has been ongoing since Oct. 2021. “Normally—at least in living memory—we have not had outbreaks going through the winter, but last year we did,” Appelt says.

How to keep birds (and yourself) safe from avian flu

The CFIA is working with different levels of government, and members of the poultry industry to control the spread of the disease, says Appelt. 

One of the ways the CFIA has been attacking the disease is by identifying outbreaks and eliminating the infected bird population before the disease spreads further. The CFIA has killed 3 million domestic birds since the start of the outbreak in Oct. 2021, says Appelt. “This is not a disease that can be dealt with on an individual level.” 

The virus has proven highly transmissible due to the amount of infectious material in the form of bird excrement being produced, says Appelt. “I think of it as a massive aerial bombing that creates infectious resources that simply keep the disease going,” he says. Even if local outbreaks are handled, large amounts of infectious material remains to infect a new batch of animals and perpetuate the disease.

Now, Appelt says, the question is whether this current outbreak will dissipate. “Will this wrap up or is there now so much virus in the wildlife and in contaminated soil that we will see flare-ups continue? Nobody really knows at this point.”

Shayan Sharif, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies immunology and avian influenza, says it’s possible the outbreak could affect poultry supply chains, but it seems unlikely given the current pattern of transmission. 

“I don’t really think that consumers are going to notice a massive price rise over the span of the next few months unless we have massive amounts of transmission of this virus, especially from farm to farm,” Sharif says. “I think the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has really done a good job of trying to suppress the spread of this virus from one farm to another.”

To help limit the spread of avian flu, Sharif recommends owners of domestic birds limit their interactions with migratory birds and waterfowl. He also recommends against feeding live birds. 

This particular virus doesn’t seem to be spreading to humans, says Sharif. However, there is a concern that human transmission could eventually develop. “What we’re really concerned about is the potential for this virus to gain the ability to transmit itself from one human to another human, and then eventually cause some sort of a pandemic,” he says. “So we really need to make sure that we contain this virus and, in a sense, nip it in the bud.”

Avian flu showing up in mammals

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Cottage Life

B.C. conservation officers solve the case of the severed bear paws

Photo Courtesy of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service/Facebook

In May of 2021, a gruesome scene struck North Shuswap, B.C. Passersby stumbled upon dozens of skinned and severed bear paws scattered across Forest Road 695 in the Little Shuswap Lake Band territory, a local Indigenous Nation.

Initially, B.C.’s Conservation Officer Service suspected poaching, but after a year-long investigation, the service has finally uncovered who was responsible for the discarded animal parts: a taxidermist.

The bear paws fell out of the back of a taxidermist’s truck while driving along Forest Road 695 last spring. In a statement released at the time of the incident, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) estimated that there were between 80 to 100 bear paws scattered along the road.

Conservation officers confirmed that the taxidermist was in legal possession of the bear paws and that the wildlife parts have no connection with poaching or any black market trafficking.

5 misconceptions about bears

The taxidermist is cooperating with authorities, the Conservation Officer Service said in a statement. Typically, the incorrect disposal of wildlife parts would land the taxidermist a $115 littering fine under the Environmental Management Act. But in lieu of the fine, the taxidermist has offered a substantial donation to the Little Shuswap Lake Band’s Watershed Stewardship Guardian Program. The program is designed to train community members in bear awareness, public safety, and attractant management.

“The [Conservation Officer Service] and the [Little Shuswap Lake Band] are pleased this donation will have a more meaningful impact to the community and wildlife,” the Conservation Officer Service said.

The service did not release the size of the donation, but did say that it far exceeded the amount of the littering fine.

Any wildlife carcasses or parts, regardless of whether they’re the result of hunting, taxidermy, or other activities, must be disposed of in a lawful and ethical manner, the service stressed. Kamloops, the closest major city to where the incident took place, states that small wildlife can be double bagged and placed in a garbage bin, while larger wildlife needs to be brought to landfill sites.

“This is to avoid alarming passersby, as well as attracting dangerous wildlife to an area frequented by people, which can create a public safety risk,” the service said.

Individuals who witness wildlife carcasses or parts being disposed of improperly in B.C. can report the violation to the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1-877-952-7277. If the incident occurs outside of B.C., look up the local Ministry of Natural Resources or conservation authority. Every province in Canada has a hotline for reporting poaching.

Ontario government asking for help solving wildlife cold cases

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Cottage Life

New study reveals September is the busiest month for moose and deer collisions

Photo by NelzTabcharani316/Shutterstock

A study from the British Columbia Medical Journal has revealed that collisions with moose in the province are most frequent in the month of September.

Researchers compared the outcomes of moose-vehicle and deer-vehicle collisions in B.C., and they found collisions with these animals peaked in certain months. Seventeen per cent of moose collisions happened in the month of September, and 25 per cent of deer collisions happened in August, with December and June also being high frequency periods for both animals.

Researchers also looked at how patients were treated in hospital after colliding with the two animals, and found that drivers who collided with moose typically suffered more severe injuries. They attribute the severity of the injuries to the large size and high centre of gravity of the animal. “When a vehicle strikes a moose, the point of contact is usually the moose’s legs; thus, the torso of the moose often lands on the hood of the car and slides up and through the windshield and across the dashboard of the car, coming in contact with the upper body of the motorists,” they said.

Drivers who collided with moose were far more likely to have their airbags deployed and be admitted to the hospital via ambulance than those who collided with deer, according to the study. Once in the hospital, only seven per cent of drivers who collided with a deer needed specialty medical treatment, while 27 per cent of drivers who collided with moose required the same.

Jadzia Porter, a spokesperson for the Wildlife Collision Prevention Program, says commuters can take steps to avoid dangerous driving collisions with moose and deer. “Almost all wildlife vehicle collisions are preventable with safe driving,” she says.

Wildlife collision prevention can start before entering the car, says Porter. Drivers should make sure they’re not too tired or distracted to give their full attention to the road, and they should also ensure their vehicles brakes, mirrors, and lights are all working properly. 

Once they’re in the car, drivers should adhere to speed limits and be on the lookout for wildlife and wildlife warning signs. If possible, travelers should consider alternative routes to those with high wildlife traffic. Commuters should also drive slowly, especially when visibility is low or at dawn and dusk, when these animals are most active. 

In most cases, it is better to break than to swerve to avoid wildlife, Porter says. Swerving can veer you towards other equally dangerous obstacles like medians, barriers, and oncoming traffic. “If you’re driving slow enough you can likely use your brakes to avoid an animal in the road and not feel as though you have to swerve,” she says.

There are important steps to take in the event of a collision, says Porter. These incidents should be reported to authorities regardless of outcome, but drivers should contact the RCMP if there are injuries, there is vehicle damage over $1,000, the animal is unsafe to move, or if the animal is in an unsafe spot on the road. 

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Cottage Life

In Fine Form: The human connection to feathers

Illustration by Aliya Ghare

When Victorian naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace referred to feathers as a “masterpiece of nature…the perfectest venture imaginable,” he wasn’t exaggerating. Wondrous in design, feathers are marvels of evolution—derived from reptilian scales—that enable birds to soar. But it is their beauty that has entranced humans worldwide for centuries. “Where else do you find such an obvious example of iridescence in nature? Birds did it up really well,” says Mark Peck, the manager of the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto.

The most valuable commodity (second only to diamonds) on the sinking Titanic turned out to be feathers—more than 40 cases—worth more than $2.3 million in today’s dollars. These extravagantly expensive plumes traveled en route to milliners’ shops as part of the feather fashion craze that had gripped Europe and North America in the 19th century—with disastrous consequences for birds. The harvesting of egret feathers during breeding season, when the gleaming white, wispy plumes are at their most spectacular, drove the species to the brink of extinction. But it wasn’t just egret feathers on hats: exotic species were all the rage, including quetzals, birds of paradise, hummingbirds, parrots, and toucans. Things reached such a fevered pitch that adorning a hat with mere feathers eventually proved insufficient and entire flattened, taxidermied birds would rest atop the ensemble. By the early 1900s, more than five million birds were killed per year in service of the millinery industry.

5 amazing ways that birds use their feathers

Initially, the blame fell on the greatest hat consumers: women. In 1912, in a scathing call to arms, William Hornaday, the director of the New York Zoo (now called the Bronx Zoo), wrote that “The blood of uncounted millions of slaughtered birds is upon the heads of women.” And yet, it was largely thanks to fiercely vocal women conservationists who vehemently opposed the feather trade that legislative change took place. In 1918, the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibited the buying, selling, trading, or bartering of bird parts and brought the hat feather frenzy to an end.

Of course, long before the birth of that feather fad as fashion—it may have been launched (at least in part) by Marie Antoinette, who topped off her coiffures with hats piled high with glamorous ostrich feathers—Indigenous people worldwide had already been putting an emphasis on self-adornment. The Aztecs brought featherwork to colossal heights. The imperial aviary in Tenochtitlán, in present-day Mexico, employed dozens of people to oversee the flocks of arresting, spectacular birds, including coloured honeycreepers, toucans, spoonbills, macaws, and parakeets—all sourced from the furthest reaches of their empire, often by the thousands. The Aztecs plucked feathers from these birds to decorate clothing, battle shields, tapestries, elaborate headdresses, and religious regalia. And they often extracted taxes from conquered lands in the form of feathers or birds. With the conquest of the Americas and colonization, exotic feathers eventually made their way to European courts and, in addition to becoming a hugely popular fashion trend, they also highlighted the power of imperial expansion.

A curious and sordid black market for exotic feathers exists today in the world of fly-fishing among fly-tiers who have revived the Victorian practice of elaborate plume-made flies resembling insects. Not only have there been numerous feather heists from natural history collections in the past several decades—the most famous of which became the subject of the acclaimed book The Feather Thief—the ROM recently instituted background checks for anyone spending unsupervised time among the prized feathers. “The most commercially valuable feathers in the collection are the pheasant and grouse family feathers due to the market for tying flies,” says Mark Peck.

Yet feathers do more than denote status and power; they also tell stories and teach us how to live. Indigenous naturalist Joe Pitawanakwat stresses the importance of learning from birds, and he sees feathers as an “acknowledgement of the teachings that the birds carry.” A member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, he says that coming in contact with a bird feather “enables us to tap into the stories that the birds are sharing.” For example, bird species with red eyes teach people about mourning and how to manage grief; a common loon feather reminds Pitawanakwat of the bird’s plaintive call and tells him that “it’s okay to cry—that’s why their eyes are red.”

10 amazing facts about loons

One of the most revered feathers among many Indigenous communities is the eagle feather, for its ability to “relay messages to a spirit world,” says Pitawanakwat. The eagle feather becomes a communicating device. “When we use eagle feathers in prayer, and when we’re smudging, those feathers are responsible for taking the message where it needs to go,” Pitawanakwat says. “Feathers are kind of like a tattoo. There’s a story to each one.”

And yet those very stories and the knowledge, both spiritual and practical, passed down from elders, is currently at risk: how to set traps according to a bird’s moulting season; how to design two types of regalia for powwows, one with iridescent feathers for daytime, and another with non-iridescent feathers for nighttime; how to use owl feathers for fletching to ensure that the arrows fly silently.

“I always say thank you when I find a feather in a forest,” says Pitawanakwat. “It’s a gift and a responsibility that’s presented to me to learn what this bird has to share.”

This article was originally published in the August 2022 issue of Cottage Life.

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Cottage Life

Connecting fragmented habitat is essential for wolverine conservation

Photo by Erik Mandre / Shutterstock

Present day wolverines, which emerged during the ice age, have been declining globally despite their many adaptions to live in challenging, rugged environments.

These large land-dwelling weasels evolved to scramble up trees and climb steep, snowy mountains. Wolverines’ snowshoe-like paws, heavy frost-resistant fur and powerful muscles let them thrive in some of the coldest places on Earth. Their sharp claws and strong jaws allow them to feast on carcasses and hunt species of all sizes from ground squirrels to elk.

While wolverines have been filmed hunting caribou in Norway and observed battling black bears over food in Yellowstone, they are extremely vulnerable, rarely seen and hard to study. Wolverine numbers are declining globally due to heavy trapping and predator killing by humans as well as habitat loss, climate change and various other factors. Scientists estimate there are more than 10,000 wolverines in Canada, but population densities vary a lot and numbers are difficult to estimate.

Our 20 years of synthesized research about wolverines shows that the best ways to protect remaining wolverine populations are to reduce trapping, minimize predator control pressures, and connect the large blocks of intact habitat they need to survive.

Not as resilient as you might think

Wolverines are private, generally solitary, species. They are slow to reproduce and have an average of two cubs, or kits, every two to three years.

They are naturally low in number and defend territories as large as 500-1,000 square kilometres, or sometimes more. These traits make them vulnerable to human impacts around the world.

Since the Europeans colonized North America, fur trapping and landscape development shrank the wolverine range drastically. South of the wide Arctic range, wolverines can be found only in the western boreal forest and mountains. But they used to live from coast to coast and as far south as New Mexico.

Today, in the United States, only around 300 remain in the lower 48 states — mainly in the snowy strongholds and high elevations of the mountain ranges. Wolverines are restricted to northern countries in Eurasia and are killed as predators of reindeer herds in Fennoscandia.

A map of the wolverine distribution in North America.
Wolverine distribution in North America.
(Environment Canada)

As tough as they are, wolverines are sometimes eaten by other big predators. As scavengers, taking food from a hungry bear or pack of wolves is a risky lifestyle. Their habitat is degraded by resource development, including forestry, oil and gas, and roads. People still trap wolverines in Canada, often far too heavily. They can also be sensitive to recreation.

All this human activity makes life better for wolverines’ competitors—coyotes. Where coyotes exploit developed landscapes, they come into conflict with wolverines, and in these fights, wolverines lose.

Piled on those problems is the impact of climate change on wolverine habitat. The cold, snowy refuges that wolverines have sought south of the Arctic are now thawing. Wolverines need snow to cache food, to raise their vulnerable kits safely and to keep lowland competitors away. The one-two punch of landscape change and climate change are making matters worse for wolverines.

Sneak a peek at animals using wildlife overpasses

Building blocks for wolverine conservation

Wolverines need large, connected blocks of intact habitat to survive. The only way to protect them in the long run is to help protect and connect their fragmented blocks of habitat.

A scenic mountainous green landscape
Prime wolverine habitat near Revelstoke, B.C. in summer. Wolverines need large areas of intact, connected habitat to survive.
(Mirjam Barrueto/WolverineWatch.org), Author provided

Creating more protected areas and managing human activity within and next to them will help. Protecting “climate refugia”—the last bastions of cold wolverine habitat—is an important priority. Landscape planning to connect mountain refuges across busy degraded valley bottoms is sorely needed, especially in southern Canada and the United States

Work to maintain or improve ecological connectivity is happening in some places, such as from Yellowstone to Yukon and other areas in the world.

Roads and industrial development cut up major sections of prime habitat. We can fight habitat fragmentation by making better decisions about road-building, including when to decommission roads built for resource extraction and mitigating the effects of traffic on wolverines and other wildlife. Habitat protection, connectivity, and restoration are critical for wolverines.

5 tips for avoiding collisions with wildlife on the road

We also need transboundary co-ordination. We need to think across larger landscapes, especially regions that still support wolverines on both sides of a border—like between Canada and the United States or between Norway and Sweden.

No longer ignorant nor blissful

Globally, governments have insufficiently protected wolverines.

Sweden’s predator stewardship program is an exception and British Columbia has stopped wolverine trapping in small locales.

Otherwise, large-scale wolverine conservation has been on the back burner. In the U.S., a petition to list wolverines on the federal Endangered Species Act was thwarted. Canada lacks a federal management plan and British Columbia’s most recent wolverine plan is from 1989, while Alberta lists the species in the “data deficient” category.

A wolverine in a camera trap surrounded by trees and a snow covered ground.
A wolverine at a research station in southeastern British Columbia. We know a lot about wolverines. All we have to do is use the knowledge and act fast.
(Mirjam Barrueto/WolverineWatch.org), Author provided

For years it seemed like not much was known about wolverines, and policymakers have rested on wolverines’ mystery to excuse inaction.

The truth is, science knows a lot about wolverines. Research from around the world clearly shows what we need to do.

Wolverines may have evolved in the cold but the heat is on us to act now. We must use the research compiled over the past two decades to make the changes needed to conserve wolverines.The Conversation

Jason T Fisher is an adjunct professor and head of the Applied Conservation Macro Ecology Lab, at the University of Victoria. Aerin Jacob is an adjunct professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Northern British Columbia.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Cottage Life

Male mice are terrified of bananas according to new study

Photo by Karel Bock/Shutterstock.com

The stink of skunk on the family dog, the stench of burnt campfire popcorn, and the odour of a septic tank pump-out—there are undoubtedly some smells that can easily skyrocket a cottage owner’s stress levels. But humans aren’t the only members of the animal kingdom to get stink stress. Researchers from McGill University have uncovered an unusual stink-induced stressor for a certain critter: it turns out that male mice are stressed by the smell of bananas.

“Stress affects almost every biological and and behavioural phenomena,” says the co-author of the study, Dr. Jeffrey Mogil, a professor in the department of psychology at McGill University and the E. P. Taylor Chair in pain studies.

Animals behave differently depending on whether their stress levels are high or low, says Mogil. For scientists whose research includes lab animals like mice, an unknown environmental stressor could end up skewing the results of their experiment.

“I think it’s really important to try to figure out all the stressors and all the confounds we can find so research in the future is better,” says Mogil.

It was students from McGill University who first noticed that male mice were behaving oddly in the laboratory. “I’ve learned over the years that when my students notice something we should follow it up,” says Mogil.

A series of experiments showed that the male mice were reacting to the presence of pregnant and lactating female mice also housed in the laboratory. The main offender for the stress turned out to be a chemical in the urine of the female mice called n-pentyl-acetate.

Male mice are known to kill the offspring of other mice. The researchers think that the n-pentyl-acetate is being used by pregnant and lactating female mice to send an aggressive and stinky message to males: back off.

“This is a new form of social signalling that’s never been described before,” says Mogil. “Mice signal to each other all the time through smell, but there are very few examples of females signalling to males on a topic that doesn’t involve sex. The message here is that there might be a fight.”

N-pentyl-acetate happens to be very similar in structure to isopentyl acetate, the chemical that gives bananas their signature odour. The researchers found that banana oil produced the same stress reaction in male mice as the female urine. “The fact that it’s banana smell that seems to be the most important chemo-signal is funny,” says Mogil.

If you’re hoping the researchers stumbled upon the secret key to halting rodent infestations, think again. The smell only works on male mice, points out Mogil—which isn’t much use if females come around. “We’re certainly not suggesting that anyone try to control mice in their house with bananas,” he says. Best to save your bananas for banana bread.