a) Project Background:
Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are listed as a Threatened species in Alberta under the Wildlife Act, and in Canada under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). Habitat alteration and predation linked to industrial footprint have been identified as the main ultimate causes of caribou population decline in Alberta.
All management efforts require information concerning caribou population composition and trend. The status of woodland caribou populations in Alberta is determined by modeling the relationship between adult female survival rates, as shown through telemetry (relocation surveys), and numbers of calves being recruited into the various populations in late winter, as seen during late winter population composition surveys. The modeling of recruitment of calves in relation to adult female survival determines the rate of growth for individual caribou populations, i.e. lambda. Proper classification of the telemetry signal (i.e., alive or mortality signals from the radio collars) on mortality flights is critical to assess if they are on mortality mode or alive.
b) Project Objectives:
The objective of this work is to verify whether radio-collared adult female caribou are alive or dead, based on the signal emitted by radio collars affixed to individual animals. Also, if it can be accomplished in an effective and timely manner, the work will document the location of individual radio-collared caribou.
The caribou relocation surveys are conducted three or four times a year, from April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019; typically in April, August, November, and February. Surveys are flown in all 15 caribou ranges across Alberta. Ranges will be divided into three regions of operation (Figure 1), each of which will require independent bids and contracts within the Request for Proposal (Table 1). It is anticipated that the work in the three regions of operations will need to be concurrent, to meet required time lines. The surveys and telemetry techniques must be conducted by a trained and experienced crew. Each must search for and locate caribou using radio-telemetry methods, record details on the pulse rate (alive or mortality mode) and record any caribou observations that occur incidental to the telemetry task. Caribou ranges are large (average about 9,337 km2) and caribou can be distributed throughout the entire range. Generally the surveys take from 1 to 3 days per range, depending on weather conditions. Thus the surveys within a given region of operations may take up to 16 to 20 days to complete at a provincial scale.
Survey efficiency is critical because inexperience can lead to longer search times and can increase the time that the caribou are stressed or are exerting themselves in response to the aircraft. The west-central surveys are largely conducted in mountainous terrain.
