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Parks Canada Spring Newsletter 2024

John Walton | Published on 4/9/2024

Collaboration and engagement
A Parks Canada biologist with a partner from Kelly Lake Cree Nation are shown in a laboratory, taking DNA samples from caribou scat.

In the lab: sharing monitoring technologies

Members ofKelly Lake Cree Nationand Mountain Cree joined the caribou recovery team for two days in December 2023 to talk about caribou and wildlife monitoring. They shared the monitoring and remote camera work they are using in their communities and learned more about Parks Canada’s remote camera monitoring.

Together we discussed approaches to placing cameras and sorting, tagging and analyzing the large quantity of images the cameras take each year. The partners spent time in the lab learning how Jasper National Park collects, stores and swabs caribou scat for DNA analysis. This two-way knowledge-sharing highlights the importance of a collaborative approach to caribou recovery in the region.

Source population working group

Establishing a captive breeding population requires capturing wild (source) caribou and moving them to live in the Caribou Conservation Breeding Centre. Details on how many caribou will be captured, and from which populations, are not yet confirmed. Decisions will be based on the best available information about genetic and behavioural suitability, the impacts of removing animals from wild populations, and discussions with provincial, federal and Indigenous partners. It is imperative that source populations not be imperilled by moving females into the breeding program.
Three woodland caribou are shown walking through a grassy sub-alpine meadow, with a rocky slope in the background.

Parks Canada has formed a Source Population Working Group — together withAlberta’s Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas,British Columbia’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource StewardshipandEnvironment and Climate Change Canada— to evaluate options for sourcing caribou for Parks Canada’s conservation breeding program.

With facilitation, technical expertise and the best available statistical tools and models from the not-for-profitBiodiversity Pathways, this working group is evaluating the potential impact on southern mountain caribou populations in Alberta and British Columbia if animals were moved to the conservation breeding program. When more technical information is available, we will continue discussions with Indigenous partners and the working group to request further guidance about capturing caribou from source populations.

Recovery strategy amendment workshop

Members of the caribou recovery team attended Environment and Climate Change Canada’sworkshopswith Indigenous partners in Edmonton, Alberta and Prince George, British Columbia, to discuss proposed amendments to theRecovery Strategyfor southern mountain caribou.

These workshops were an important opportunity to hear Indigenous partners’ perspectives on the proposed amendments, to hear from several Indigenous communities about the work they are doing in support of caribou recovery, and to share Parks Canada’s conservation breeding program.
Two Parks Canada biologists are shown standing outside in the snow, with snowy mountains in the background, while presenting to a group of people.

Alberta Chapter and Canadian Section of The Wildlife Society conference in Jasper

The Alberta Chapter and Canadian Section of The Wildlife Society held aWildlife Research in Action Conferencein Jasper in early March 2024.

The caribou monitoring team presented the conservation breeding program and deer monitoring project to 250 colleagues from universities, governments, consultancies and other environmental organizations. This conference was also a great opportunity to gain information on current research and techniques in ungulate and monitoring ecology.

Research and monitoring
A woodland caribou is shown head down, facing the camera. It is foraging for food in a green sub-alpine meadow, with a rocky slope in the background. The caribou is dark brown in colour, with large antlers.

📷Madeline Trottier, Parks Canada

Researching caribou genetics and nutrition for conservation breeding

Jasper National Park is partnering with genetics researchers at the University of Calgary to better evaluate and track the genomics (fine-scale genetics) of southern mountain caribou in the region.This foundational work will ensure we have the best knowledge of wild caribou genetics to effectively manage caribou in the conservation breeding centre.
Two Parks Canada biologists are shown in a laboratory, taking blood samples out of a refrigerator.

Parks Canada is also working with a researcher on a project to collate information on captive caribou diet and nutrition requirements. This report will be used to inform future animal care protocols in the conservation breeding centre.
A woodland caribou is shown in profile eating a small shrub among a snowy backdrop.

Fieldwork for the winter season is complete! The team completed aerial surveys in the Brazeau, Tonquin and À la Pêche caribou ranges to obtain a minimum count of animals and to collect scat for DNA analysis. Over 350 scat DNA samples have been swabbed and sent to a genetics laboratory to identify individual caribou. While we wait for those results, the team is working on aprogress reportfor the years 2021 to 2023. Stay tuned!

Update on small-scale feeding site in Brazeau caribou range

For many years, fewer than 10 caribou have been counted in the Brazeau caribou range. In an effort to improve our ability to locate caribou in the Brazeau population, the monitoring team and Frank Roan from Mountain Cree distributed pellet feed at two sites in high-altitude caribou habitat in November 2023.

After three months, no caribou have been detected on the remote wildlife cameras at the feeding sites. This highlights the difficulty of monitoring a small population over a large area. Any feed left undiscovered will be removed before the end of winter.
A remote camera image of a snowshoe hare at night, jumping around in the snow.
A remote camera image of a wolverine in the snow at night.

Some particularly athletic snowshoe hares were spotted at the feeding sitesas well as a wolverine.

Wolf population monitoring

Monitoring predators in Jasper National Park, particularly wolves, is a critical component of caribou monitoring and management. Wolves are a keystone species with an important role in the natural environment. Scientists in Jasper use remote cameras and radio collars to understand how this important predator uses habitat in the national park.Wolf density near caribou habitat can significantly impact caribou population growth and is estimated yearly using images from over 110 remote cameras.
A remote camera image of grey coloured wolf.

Over the winter, the monitoring team reviewed images from July 2022 to July 2023 to calculate an estimated wolf density of 1.6 wolves in a 1000 km2area, among approximately eight or nine main wolf packs.

Many factors make tracking and capturing wolves challenging. In January and March of this year, specialists contracted by Parks Canada were able to add radio collars to wolves in three different packs using the Athabasca, Miette and Whirlpool river valleys.
GIF showing movements among three separate wolfpacks in Jasper National Park from January 23 to February 12, 2024. The movements show how quickly wolves move across a large distance and that even though they are a rare sighting, wolves spentmost of their time invalley bottoms and close to roadways and trails.

A map animation showsmovements among three separate wolfpacks in Jasper National Park from January 23 to February 12, 2024. Each colour (red, blue, green) represents a collared wolf. Each point is a GPS location marker, updated every twohours. The movements show how quickly wolves move across a large distance and that even though they are a rare sighting, wolves spentmost of their time invalley bottoms and close to roadways and trails.

Conservation breeding centre
An aerial image showing the full footprint of the 65-hectare site and is very close to what the breeding centre will look like once complete. A wide clearing visible around the perimeter of the breeding centre is a 30-metre fireguard to mitigate the risk of wildfire.

Aerial image of the breeding centre site looking west on February 22, 2024.
Geraldine Road is shown on the lower left side of the image.

Construction progress

Work on the Caribou Conservation Breeding Centre has steadily progressed throughout the winter. Therecent aerial image above helps illustrate the full footprint of the 65-hectare site and is very close to what the breeding centre will look like once complete. The wide clearing visible around the perimeter of the breeding centre is a 30-metre fireguard to mitigate the risk of wildfire.

Mechanical forestry work was completed in January 2024, with dead pine trees being split into campground firewood.Since then, crews have been cleaning up and burning the fine woody debris left behind.
An image of wood debris piled and ready to be burned.

Burning debris piles has proven challenging this winter with the unusually low snowpack; snow is crucial to burning safely. This forestry work will mitigate the risk of wildfire affecting the breeding centre while retaining the younger forest regeneration layers within the caribou pens and reducing the risk of injury from deadfall.
An image of building, with most of the siding installed.

The three buildings needed to operate the centre — the administration building, handling barn and storage shed — are taking shape!

The metal roofing and siding are almost complete, and on the inside, the walls are up with utilities and drywall installation progressing quickly.

Once the snow melts and the ground thaws, the contractor will begin installing watering stations in the caribou pens, installing many fences and gates, and preparing the alleyways and corral systems. ATCO will return to rehabilitate the ground disturbance where a buried high-voltage power line has been installed along Wabasso Road (93A) from the breeding centre towards Wabasso Campground.

⛔Geraldine Road is closed to traffic for the winter season
An image of a road sign for Geraldine Road in the background, with an area closure sign in the foreground.

Public access on the first 1.44 km of Geraldine Road is restricted to ensure safety during construction. Geraldine Road will be accessible to vehicles beginning on June 9, 2024, using the same radio kiosk and escort system as last year.This ensures that visitors can safely move through the construction zone during working hours.

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