The Wildlife Division’s Habitat, Game and Fur Section endeavoursto sustainably manage game species within Newfoundland andLabrador. One of its goals is to manage wildlife populations to

allow for sustainable use practices, including hunting and trapping.Information collected from hunters and trap-pers helps wildlife managers make importantdecisions about the number of animals thatmay be harvested annually. This information,along with a series of wildlife monitoring tech-niques, is used to estimate the size, demo-graphics, and density of each of theprovince’s three big game species: moose,caribou, and black bear.

As part of the ongoing management of blackbears within Newfoundland and Labrador,the Wildlife Division, working closely withConservation Officers from the Departmentof Natural Resources, has recently establishedthree black bear hair-snagging grids across in-sular Newfoundland. The grids are set up andoperated annually in June and July.

The grids consist of approximately fifty, 75-km2 blocks located on theNorthern, Baie Verte, and Bonavista Peninsulas. Baited barbed wire trian-gles are positioned at the centre of these grids. Each hair-snagging stationis marked with warning signs to inform the public of both the presence ofthe barbed wire and the possible presence of black bears in the area. In orderto reach the bait, a bear has to pass the triangular, barbed wire enclosure. Asthe bear rubs against the wire, the barbs trap samples of hair. Each site ischecked every 10 days, hair samples are collected, and sites are re-baited.

In an effort to maximize the use of resources, the black bear grids also provide asampling opportunity for insect species. As baits decompose they attract an assort-ment of scavengers, including several local species of carrion beetles.

News from the Wildlife Division Fall 2009 Page 1

Beetle species are collected during each sitevisit and identified by biologists in the WildlifeDivision’s Endangered Species and Biodiver-sity Section.

At the end of the sampling season thehair samples are sent to Memorial Uni-versity for genetic analysis. Geneticistsprocess each sample to determinehow many individual bears visited eachsite over the course of the sampling.

Early work from these gridshas yielded some interest-ing insights into the

uniqueness of black bears onthe Island of Newfoundland.

Identifying individual bears helps es-timate the density of bears within thesampling areas and, along with in-

formation received from biggame licence returns,helps wildlife man-agers understandthe dynamics ofblack bear popu-lations on theIsland.

Finding answers in a bear’s hair

Department of Environment & Conservation

Natural Heritage Branch

Wildlife Division researchers and their partners

are conducting genetic analysis on strands of

black bear fur to estimate the number of black

bears living on the Island of Newfoundland

News from the Wildlife Division

Our Wildlife

Text: Casidhe Dyke, Wildlife Division. Photos: (top) Wildlife Division; (centre) Tyler Hodder, SDSS; (bottom) Charmaine Barney, Wildlife Division

The peregrine falcon is listed as a vulnerable species under

Newfoundland & Labrador’s Endangered Species Act because it

possesses characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to

human activities and natural events.

News from the Wildlife Division Fall 2009 Page 2 Text & photos: Shelley Garland, Wildlife Division

The Wildlife Divisionhas conducted pere-grine surveys of

Labrador since 1984. This effort hasbeen led by Joe Brazil, who, after an ex-

emplary career of nearly 30 years with the Wildlife Di-vision, will be retiring this year.

The survey goal is to determine the number of breed-ing peregrine pairs in the area and assess populationtrends over time. The number of adults, chicks, andeggs are recorded, as well as the age of the chicks.

The survey is intended to be conducted once everyfive years; however due to financial and logistical chal-lenges, data collection takes place over a two-year pe-riod every five years. Survey results help informprovincial and national management strategies forperegrine falcons.

This year marked the beginning of our sixth two-yearsurvey, which focused on known nest sites alongcoastal Labrador from just north of Nain and south toTable Bay, and partially on Labrador Inuit Lands (LIL).

A new field crew included Shelley Garland, Bruce Ro-drigues, and Claudia Hanel from the Wildlife Division,Jim Goudie with the Nunatsiavut Government, alongwith Geoff Goodyear, a helicopter pilot who has beena part of the peregrine falcon survey crew since theprogram’s inception.

Additional surveys were conducted on small mam-mals, invertebrates, and plants. Three days of survey-ing were based from a camp along the shore ofTikkoatokak Bay, as well as in Hopedale.

We surveyed cliffs by flying closely along a cliff faceat slow speeds in an attempt to flush an adult pere-grine, therefore locating the nest by either seeingwhere the bird flushed from, or the location to whichit returned. The helicopter hovered over potentialnest sites to give observers time to search the ledgesfor falcon activity, eggs, young, and adult falcons. Sur-veyors first had to establish visual cues and a “searchimage” of the falcon nests, as they are usually wellcamouflaged along the cliff face, often times on smallledges and in crevices.

Years of data collection from past surveys allowed usto return to cliffs with known nest sites, although fal-cons may not return to these exact nest location yearafter year. In such cases, the surrounding area issearched as well. One indication that a cliff has beenused for nesting or perching is the presence of brightorange lichen and fresh droppings, referred to as“wash.”

Once an accessible nest with chicks was located, fieldcrew members rappelled down to the nest to collectinformation about the chicks, and band their legs forfuture identification. This season, three chicks werebanded while a very territorial parent swooped andsquealed from above.

Tracking the Wanderer

Photo credit

The Atlantic Provinces’ Youth Hunting and Fishing Ex-change Program embraces the heritage and cultureof hunting and fishing in Atlantic Canada and encour-

ages our youth to become involved in conservation aware-ness in our own communities.

Through their participation in programs like the FirearmSafety/Hunter Education Course, young people aged 12 to17 can also win an opportunity to experience other culturesand lifestyles involving hunting and fishing in our neighbour-ing provinces.

New Brunswick exchange winner Kendra Ferris, 13, was ac-companied by her father, Walter Ferris, on a recent salmonfishing trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. They were wel-comed to Newfoundland and Labrador by Wildlife DivisionDirector John Blake.

Kendra and Walter enjoyed three days of guided salmonfishing on the Humber and Main Rivers. Transportation tothe Main River was provided by Universal Helicopters. Itwas the first time either of them had been in a helicopter.Pilot Darren Barrett made both Kendra and Walter feel verycomfortable with the whole experience.

They were quite taken withthe beautiful scenery and

wildlife they observedduring the two

hours of flighttime. Great foodand accommo-dations, andwonderful hos-pitality were

provided bySterling and

Irene Pittman of

Big Falls TouristLodge. Our guestsalso spent sometime at the UpperHumber Rod andGun Club in DeerLake, where theyhad the opportu-nity to do sometrap shootingwith Conserva-tion Services staff.

Kendra drewthe name ofNewfoundland

and Labrador’s 2009Youth Ex-change winner,16-year-old JamesHumby of PortugalCove-St. Phillips.

James was chosen from almost300 youth who participated in New-foundland and Labrador’s FirearmsSafety/Hunter Education Course between July2008 and June 2009.

In October, he will travel with his father, Barry Humby, toNew Brunswick to participate in an upland bird and water-fowl hunt sponsored by the New Brunswick Department ofNatural Resources and White Pines Hunting Lodge.

Sponsors for this year’s exchange pro-gram include the Department ofEnvironment & Conservation,Newfoundland & LabradorOutfitters Association,Newfoundland &Labrador ConservationOfficers Association,Barnes Sporting Goods,Upper Humber Rod &Gun Association, UniversalHelicopters NewfoundlandLimited and Big Falls TouristLodge.

Experience of a lifetimeNB student wins three-day flyfishing excursion

“They taught us plenty about flyfishing, and how to get the fly in

just the right spot. With this knowledge and useful equipment, me

and my dad each caught a salmon, of course mine was bigger than

his. Newfoundland is a beautiful place, and I had lots of fun, which

makes me want to go back next year. We would like to say thank you

and we appreciate all the help we were given by the people who or-

ganized this experience of a lifetime.”

- Kendra Ferris, 13

News from the Wildlife Division Fall 2009 Page 3 Text & photos: Jason Foster, Wildlife Division

Port au Choix residents committo protection of rare plants

News from the Wildlife Division Fall 2009 Page 4 Plant photos: Dulcie House & Michael Burzynski   Signing ceremony: Charmaine Barney & Jessica Humber, Wildlife Division

Above: Art depicting the beauty of the Northern Peninsula’s Limestone Barrens by the students of St. Theresa’s Elementary in Portau Choix. Centre: Dulcie House of the Limestone Barrens Habitat Stewardship Program and Cathy Regular of the Wildlife Divisionwith the town’s new highway sign. 

St.Theresa’s ElementarySchool and the Town ofPort au Choix have en-

tered into a Municipal StewardshipAgreement that designates areas ofthe Limestone Barrens habitat forconservation.

Wallace Young, MHA for St. Barbe,signed the agreement in Port au Choixon behalf of Environment and Conser-vation Minister Charlene Johnson onSept. 22. Other signatories includedDulcie House, Limestone BarrensHabitat Stewardship Program; Bev-erly Plowman, Principal of St.Theresa’s Elementary School; and Car-olyn Lavers, Town of Port au Choix.Gerry Byrne, MP for Humber-St.Barbe-Baie Verte, also attended andaddressed the students.

The agreement commits St. Theresa’sstudents and the Town of Port auChoix to actions that will help ensurethe sustainability of the LimestoneBarrens’ unique plants species. In a

poem written and recited by St.Theresa’s Grade 5 students, they toldthe audience to “always walk, don’tride or drive, stay on the trails so theplants can survive.”

“Co-operation and dedication to pro-tection of the environment are key el-ements of agreements like this one,”said Minister Johnson. “The spirit ofstewardship is alive and well in townslike Port au Choix, and this is a won-derful example of residentscommitting to work withgovernment to con-tinue to find a bal-ance between thenatural environ-ment, economicgrowth and devel-opment and sus-tainability.”

Plant life on the limestone bar-rens contributes greatly to the biodi-versity of the province. The Strait ofBelle Isle Ecoregion on the Great

Northern Peninsula fosters a signifi-cant number of rare or uniquespecies, including Long’s Braya (as-sessed as being endangered by theCommittee on the Status of Endan-gered Wildlife in Canada) and Fer-nald’s Braya (designated asthreatened). Of the 298 rare vascularplants on the Island of Newfound-land, 104 of them occur on the Lime-stone Barrens, and 22 of these speciesare found only on the Great Northern

Peninsula.

The Limestone Bar-rens Habitat

S t e w a r d s h i pProgram, an ini-tiative funded inpart by the fed-

eral Habitat Stew-ardship Program for

Species at Risk, seeksto protect Limestone Barrens

habitat and associated at-risk speciesthrough stewardship agreements,restoration, enhancement and educa-

Fernald’s Milk Vetch Yellow Lady Slipper Fiery Lousewort Long’s Braya Barrens Willow Fernald’s Braya

2009 instructors’ conference

News from the Wildlife Division Fall 2009 Page 5 Photos: Conservation Services staff, Wildlife Division

Approximately 70 certified FirearmSafety/Hunter Education (FS/HE) instruc-tors in Newfoundland & Labrador pro-

vide training to more than 3,500 firearm ownersand new hunters annually. In August 2009, in-structors gathered at Sir Wilfred Grenfell Collegein Corner Brook for three days to share ideasand learn about new policies and teaching tech-niques related to the FS/HE Program. Instructorswere recognized for their valued contribution tocontinuing the heritage of safe, responsible andknowledgeable hunting. The FS/HE Program in-volves a partnership between the College of theNorth Atlantic, the Royal Canadian Mounted Po-lice (Canadian Firearms Program) and the De-partment of Environment and Conservation’sWildlife Division, and is recognized throughoutCanada for its high standards and successful de-livery.

Firearm SaFety/Hunter education

Environment & ConservationNatural Heritage BranchWildlife Division117 Riverside DriveCorner Brook, NL A2H 7S1

(709) 637-2025www.gov.nl.ca

Questions or comments, contact: lindaskinner@gov.nl.ca

“How to Trap Coyotes”Workshops

What’s New at the Wildlife Division

As a part of the Department of Environment & Conservation’s five-year caribou strategy, the Wildlife Division has been hosting a numberof workshops and seminars specifically designed to improve generalawareness about predators, predator hunting and trapping, and theNewfoundland woodland caribou. “How to Hunt” workshops forboth coyote and black bear have been held in several locations acrossthe Island.

Four “How to Trap Coyotes” workshops are currently scheduled forOctober 13-17 in Plum Point, Stephenville, Gander and St John’s. During these workshops, individuals will learn about coyote trappingtechniques, including equipment needs, trap preparation, site selec-tion and actual trap sets. There will be opportunities to win prizes,and participants will also be able to review some of the latest tech-nology and equipment available.

There is no cost to participate in these workshops; however, atten-dance will be limited during each of the sessions. To ensure a space isreserved for you, please contact the Stewardship and Education Sec-tion of the Wildlife Division in Corner Brook at (709)637-2006 or email

Nathan Spence and Nicole King of the Wildlife Division present a Foxpro FX3electronic caller to door prize winner Leslie Hiscock of Burgeo during a re-cent “How to Hunt Coyote” workshop.

News from the Wildlife Division Fall 2009 Page 6

Becoming an Outdoors WomanThe Becoming an Outdoors Woman program (BOW),the outdoor skills training program for women 18years of age and older, will take place from October23-25 at Killdevil Camp, Lomond, Gros Morne NationalPark.

Participants can choose four half-day courses from atotal of 13 possibilities, including fly fishing, outdoorsurvival, wilderness first aid, shotgun, rifle, hiking andbackpacking, GPS navigation, and Map and Compass,to name a few.

The cost of the program is $180 for two night’s accom-modations, seven meals and the use of demonstra-tion equipment. All classes are at an introductorylevel for people who have little or no experience.

If you have a sister, mother, friend or co-worker whomight be interested, please let them know of this op-portunity. This program is open to the general public,and registration is now available.

For more information or to register, contact:

Lucy O'DriscollBOW Coordinator(709) 229-7189 or 229-7888Lucyodriscoll@gov.nl.ca