Mammals
What Bears Teach Us
Recorded Presentation
Speaker: SARAH ELMELIGI
Host: Weaselhead/Glenmore Park Preservation Society
Wild Boars on the March
Initially, wild boar numbers were low and they went largely unnoticed. However, their high reproductive rate is a recipe for exponential growth, which is exactly what has happened.
Read MoreDeath by “Data Deficient”: The Disappearance of Wolverines in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes
BY GILLIAN CHOW-FRASER
Olaus Murie once wrote, “I wonder if there is another inhabitant of northern wilderness that so excites the imagination.”1 The species he was referring to? None other than the wolverine.
More than 60 years later, the same thought ran through my mind as I tracked through the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. Would this be the day? Would I be able to catch even a brief glimpse of a wolverine’s bushy tail in the distance?
Read MoreThe Ronald Lake Wood Bison Herd: Observations From Their Home
BY GARRETT RAWLEIGH & LEE HECKER
When people think of bison, they often picture the vast herds of plains bison that once roamed the Great Plains of North America. These massive herds, and the story of their demise, are well known. But how many people are familiar with their larger northern cousin?
Read MoreContributors To Conflict And Coexistence With Urban Coyotes
Recorded Presentation
Speaker: COLLEEN CASSADY ST. CLAIR
Host: Nature Alberta
Deadly Highway: Road and Rail Fatalities are Decimating Jasper Park’s Wildlife
BY DICK DEKKER
Protected from hunting year-round, Jasper’s elk have lost their fear of humans, and tend to concentrate along highways and in the townsite. There are two main reasons for this: they are attracted by grassy clearings, and there are fewer wolves here than in the backcountry. However, the elk’s anti-predator strategy of staying near human habituation increases the risk of colliding with vehicles and trains.
Read MoreThe Case of the Missing Prairie Bandit
BY ARYA HORON
One hundred years ago, the prairie bandit was abundant across North America grasslands. By 1979, scientists believed it was extinct. This led to the question: where did the prairie bandit go?
Read MoreBear Tracks
BY COLLEEN CASSADY ST. CLAIR
How can we protect grizzly bears from trains in the mountain parks?
Read MoreThe Swift Fox: A Canadian Conservation Success Story
BY LU CARBYN, NIKKI PASKAR, KRISTY BLY, AND RICHARD SCHNEIDER
The swift fox reintroduction program successfully brought the fastest member of the wild dog family’s population from Extirpated to Endangered, and finally to Threatened. Although it began with an illegal publicity stunt by a game farm, structured efforts soon followed. Habitat conservation continues to be a key issue for swift fox populations.
Read MoreWhere Beavers Go, Surprises Follow
BY GLYNNIS HOOD
It’s an usually warm day in January and my snowshoes are only partially necessary on the frozen ponds that aid my route through the Ministik Game Bird Sanctuary. As I rest against a beaver lodge to have my tea, I realize that after all these years, there is still so much more to learn about these rodents, which can engineer entire landscapes unlike any other mammal, other than humans.
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