Circumstances permitted solid caribou count

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So far so good with this summer’s attempt to get a solid aerial count of the Porcupine caribou herd, says an Alaskan biologist.

Cathy Harms, with the state’s Department of Fish and Game, said this morning from Fairbanks the census went ahead earlier this month for the first time in eight years.

“The weather co-operated, the animals aggregated, we were able to locate the collars we needed to and the camera worked,” she told the Star.

Harms said if there are no unknown technical problems with the equipment, and if developing the film goes off without a hitch, wildlife staff should have something to work with.

The film from the three-day shoot on July 2, 3 and 4 was sent off Monday and should be back in about two weeks, she said.

Weather and the animals’ migration patterns have foiled attempts to get a reliable aerial survey since the last successful count in 2001.

The uncertainty with the population has been a central piece of missing information in the often passionate debate over the development of a harvest management plan for the herd, which was adopted just recently.

After reaching a high of approximately 187,000 animals in the late 1980s, the herd went into a steady decline.

It was counted at 123,000 nine years ago. Discussions in the last couple of years through the development of the harvest plan – which revolves around the herd’s size – generally accepted a computer-generated estimate of 100,000 caribou today.

“The fact we have some film being processed is a big step in the right direction,” said Harms.

She pointed out, however, that officials have not yet agreed to a schedule to do the actual counting from the photographs.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, she said, is fully aware of the priority attached to completing a comprehensive census for the Porcupine herd.

The counting, on the other hand, is a time-consuming and technical task which normally happens in the early winter months after the bulk of field work is completed, Harms pointed out.

The summer is busy, she added, noting her department has completed the aerial work for four caribou herds, and has three more to go, in addition to the bear survey they’re in the middle of. Summer census is followed by hunting season, and then comes the early fall snow required for moose surveys, she said.

Doing the actual counting, Harms said, takes about five weeks. The first two weeks is spent just aligning the photographs to eliminate the risk of overlap and counting the same animal twice.

“And then there is the magnifying glass and clicker and sitting and counting every single caribou,” she said. “So yeah, it takes a chunk of time.”

Harms said typically the counts aren’t done until after the summer and fall field work, and are usually not available until early in the new year.

Recognizing the importance of completing a comprehensive Porcupine count, Alaska wildlife staff have and are continuing to discuss what would have to give to undertake the aerial count immediately, but no decisions have been made, she said.

A successful count of the Porcupine herd depends on the caribou coming all together on the calving grounds of Alaska’s and the Yukon’s North Slope along the Beaufort Sea coast.

In the years since 2001, either weather has grounded aerial survey crews, or portions of the herd have not gone onto the North Slope to calve.

Flying at an altitude of 275 to 305 metres above ground, the aerial work was completed by a crew of nine flying in three different aircraft.