Photo by Whitehorse Star
Environment Yukon biologist Rob Florkiewicz
Hunters have taken 18 elk and 68 bison, figures show
Yukoners have so far harvested 18 elk.
Yukoners have so far harvested 18 elk.
Environment Yukon biologist Rob Florkiewicz said this morning the work is just beginning to process the hides to determine what percentage of the animals were carrying the winter tick, and how many ticks were on each animal.
Past experience shows that the degree of infestation on each animal is relatively small and far below what would be required to compromise their health.
Florkiewicz, the department's manager of species and programs, said of the 20 mule deer hides collected mostly from road kills last year, 11 were infested with winter ticks, ranging from two on one deer to a high of 247.
It usually takes concentrations in the thousands and tens of thousands to affect an animal's health, he said.
Florkiewicz pointed out one of the two moose calves which tested positive for winter ticks last year had 17 ticks on it and the other eight.
When the winter tick was first noticed in the spring of 2006 while wildlife officials were radio collaring elk in the Takhini and Braeburn herd, all 18 elk captured were infected.
Over the past two years, however, Environment Yukon has been capturing the elk in late winter and holding them into the late spring, until after the ticks have fallen off the elk into a field that can that be isolated.
The rate of infection, Florkiewicz said, is down to about 50 per cent of the elk, and officials are also seeing fewer ticks on each animal.
Environment Yukon handed out 50 elk permits for this fall's first-ever elk season, with the intent of having 50 animals harvested.
Florkiewicz said the season outside the core area, which stretches from the Takhini River Bridge on the Alaska Highway to the other side of the Mendenhall subdivision, runs until March 31, so there's still time to hit the harvest target.
As recently as Friday, he said, there were 100 elk on the east of the bridge, outside the core area.
Meanwhile, as of this morning, the first fall bison hunt had seen 68 animals harvested. The winter season will begin Tuesday, and is open to all licenced hunters.
The government is hoping to reduce the size of the bison population, which is estimated at well over 1,000 animals, or more than twice the preferred population of 500.
Records show this year's moose harvest was down from last year, with Yukoners harvesting 368 bulls while non-resident hunters shot 247, for a total of 615 compared to a total of 728 last year.
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Comments (10)
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Arn Anderson on Dec 9, 2009 at 9:31 am
Please footprints get your facts straight. Volcanoes emit more CO2 in one day than humans can do in a year. Its proven, and thats just ONE volcanoe. Im not going to do it for you as I can see you have the typing abilitys to punch it in google.
Im glad you brought up the SO2 emissions because it proves your knowledge on the matter which is small to say the least. A well known AGW scientist debunked the SO2 global cooling researched by a small time journalist and declared it an myth however when you look at his methods to debunking SO2, you can clearly use his methods to debunk the CO2 myth. Of course the scientist said no because of this and that and my funding goes down the tube, but I guess big oil is behind it eh?
Another fact, big oil DOES NOT support AGW. As soon as the idea of carbon taxes were brought up, they jumped aboard. The carbon credit ponzi scam is as big as all the fossil fuels commodities combined so research and think for yourself please.
Your tectonic plate theory is an old forum troll analogy, stick to the facts because I guarentee you, you won't say let alone have the time to say it in a TRUE DEBATE.
Dont gobble all the old vegetables and fruit now, we made need them for banana bread and those old cabbages they sell at grocery stores but then again thats we pick the seeds out eh? By the way, I never proved your point but you proved my point on you being on the show "hoarders".
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footprints on Dec 9, 2009 at 5:34 am
Yes Arn, hypothetically speaking, if leaving the best vegetables in the garden proved to significantly help strengthen and ensure the survival of the crop then it would only make sense to do so. But some are too "ingrained" with fear, greed and ignorance to think it through. Thanks for your help in proving the point.
On average, volcanoes only emit a quantity <1% of human caused CO2 emissions. Besides, S02 emissions from volcanoes cause global cooling.
On a "good day" shifting of tectonic plates can level a major city. So by your twisted reasoning it should also be ok to detonate weapons of mass destruction on a daily basis (?)
"...there is a strong correlation between corrupt scienctist and manipulated data."
You don't think the oil industry isn't playing that game?
Yes, be skeptical, but also be skeptical of those who are skeptical.
Hey QC: Elk haven't been here for over a century and the bison have been gone for over 4 centuries. The average life span of a wolf in the wild is 8 years.
Too bad no one factored that information into their "learning curve" before they decided to toy with wildlife.
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Arn Anderson on Dec 4, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Real impact of 84million barrels of oil burned day. Here is a enlightening fact for you. One volcano having a good day lets off more CO2 emissions than humans can do in a year. Also THERE IS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN CO2 and TEMPERATURE. But there is a strong correlation between corrupt scienctist and manipulated data.
As for the Elk hunt, you forget that it has been ingrained in all of us that we have to eat the best of the best or its all hot dogs and bologna for dinner. Even those submeats come from the best of the best so please tell me you are out prowling for the oldest vegetable in the produce section or the expired eggs in the grocery section. Because that is good, I applaud you for your efforts, maybe you footprints should be on that new show Hoarders.
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QC on Dec 3, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Both of these species *are* indigenous to the Yukon. They have been reintroduced after being wiped out for various reasons. It's not like they introduced a population of zebra or something. Wolves and bears have been taking these animals down for hundreds of thousands of years, there's no learning curve here.
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francias pillman on Dec 3, 2009 at 9:39 am
Excellent reply, and I fully agree with it.
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footprints on Dec 3, 2009 at 4:31 am
Thanks for the reply francias, I tend to agree with your comment in principle. And a good case for supporting those that seek to reduce Co2 emissions, we probably don't have a clue as to the real impact burning 84 million barrels of oil a day has on the planet.
The elk and bison should never have been transplanted to the Yukon by humans in the first place. Now that they are here we need to decide what to do (if anything). We SHOULD know by now that wolves and ungulates exist in balance. Yukon wolves have not yet learned how to hunt these particular species and as a result the elk and bison may quickly succumb to disease without the balance provided by predators.
IF we are to get involved then we should do so in the same way that natural predators would be involved, by taking only the weakest and leaving the strongest to propagate. And unlike natural predators, we have the technology and hopefully the decency to do our killing in a manner that does not cause unnecessary pain.
These biologists will probably try to justify their hunt by saying they need hunters to submit hides to further their winter tick research, but we all know it is to have others do their field work for them so they can have more time to spin the YP trophy hunting agenda.
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francias pillman on Dec 1, 2009 at 10:12 am
Hey footprints, killing anything based on what humans believe what should be there is not humane, its called poaching. Last time I checked humans can't even manage their own, what gives them the right to think they can do it with animals. The world needs more animals and less humans.
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Arron Atchley on Dec 1, 2009 at 5:41 am
How about shooing some of those elk over
here to eastern Alaska. I am working
on a reciprocal hunting plan for the
Chisana caribou herd.
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footprints on Dec 1, 2009 at 4:33 am
Staging an elk hunt makes no sense. Environment could easily cull 50 of the weaker members of the herd in a humane manner while they are still held in captivity, then process the meat and hides for the benefit of all.
Instead they release all of the elk just so a few selfish people can make a name for themselves in the record books by slaughtering the strongest animal with the biggest rack they can find (oh my heroes!) all at the expense of the future health and breeding potential of the herd.
Yukon Environment officials, please do your job without pandering to ignorance.
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francias pillman on Nov 30, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Sooner or later there will be no animals left. Another victory for humans.