kelowna 2015 agm skeena region - thinhorn sheep · 2021. 3. 15. · wild sheep society of bc...
TRANSCRIPT
Wild Sheep Society of BC Kelowna 2015 AGM
SKEENA REGION - THINHORN SHEEP
Bill Jex, RPBio.
Regional Wildlife Biologist, Skeena Region,
BC Co-Chair for Wild Sheep, Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies
Skeena
The vast majority of the world’s population of Stone’s sheep reside in BC (~ 12,500 animals). Skeena holds approximately 5500 Stone’s Sheep and 400-600 Dall’s Sheep.
Colour phases of BC Thinhorn sheep range from charcoal, to chocolate, to grey, to almost white. There remains questions as to the main lineage of light coloured or `Fannin` rams with dark tails, and recent genetics work suggests that these are a result of past hybridization events between Stone’s and Dall’s sheep. Zijian Sim will be presenting his work on this at this year`s AGM.
Maps developed by: Zijian Sim, U of A. 2014
Thinhorn Sheep Homeranges and Genetic Diversity
BC-Southern Yukon Thinhorn Sheep Landscape Genetics Assessment
This genetics project is a partnership between Skeena Region FLNRO, Yukon Environment & the University of Alberta, and has the support of GOABC, Boone & Crockett Club, Pope & Young Club, BC Parks, Yukon & BC COS, and the Tahltan First Nation.
The main sources of funding support for this project includes the:
• Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) ;
• Yukon Environment;
• University of Alberta
• Wild Sheep Society of BC; &
• Wild Sheep Foundation, with special thanks to Kevin Hurley for his personal contribution.
The project’s goal is to identify the genetic landscape and diversity of thinhorn sheep herds, and through doing this, provide for:
• better management of the subpopulations across their annual range and across administrative boundaries;
• better informed land use planning and resource development decision making in terms of risks and impacts to thinhorn sheep herds;
• better enforcement capabilities, we will know which rams came from which mountain...
Fish & Wildlife Branch, Skeena Region Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations
Skeena Stone’s Sheep Harvest Summary - 2014
Prepared for the Wild Sheep Society’s 2015 AGM
Skeena Thinhorn Harvest (resident, non-resident & aboriginal hunters) has averaged about 107 rams per year over the past 18 years.
In terms of licensed harvest by residency of that time:
• Harvest has been relatively stable to declining over the past 5 years for both Resident and Non-Resident harvest.
• Over the past few years, the harvest has been spilt almost 50:50 between these two groups.
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Thinhorn Sheep Harvest - Skeena Region - By Residency - Data Current to 2015
Count of RES Count of NR Count of NAT Linear (Count of RES) Linear (Count of NR) Linear (Count of NAT)
Overall Skeena Thinhorn Harvest (includes resident, non-resident & aboriginal hunter harvest).
In 2014 it appears that there may be 3+ illegal rams taken in Skeena and another 2+ in Region 7, however the complete information is not yet filed by COS.
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1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Ram Harvest - Skeena - All MUs & All Groups - Data Current to 2015
Ram Harvest - Skeena - All MUs Linear (Ram Harvest - Skeena - All MUs)
It is in your best interest to ensure you harvest older rams!
The majority of Thinhorn Sheep harvest in Skeena region is managed General Open Seasons (Residents) and restricted guide quota (Non-Residents).
Some specific areas within Skeena are managed through LEH hunts and more restrictive guide quotas. In several of these areas populations appear to have declined over the past decade; Skeena adjusted harvest opportunity accordingly for the 2015 draw and guide quotas:
• In 6-25D – a reduction was required due to changes in accessibility within the landscape and due to observed decline in recruitment and declining population estimates;
• In 6-27A – reduction was required as residents have exceeded their allocation in 3 of the past 4 years and >60% of resident-harvested rams are <8 years old;
• In 6-28 – reduction was required due to the declining population estimate. We completed a survey in Feb 2015 and numbers continue to decline.
# LEHs issued by year
Area MU LEH ZONE 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Spatsizi 620 6-20A 110 110 110 110 110 110
Mount Edziza 621 6-21A 12 12 12 12 12 12
Atlin 625 6-25D 65 65 65 60 60 40
Atlin 627 6-27A 50 50 50 30 30 25
Tatshenshini 628 6-28 50 50 50 40 40 25
Tatshenshini 629 6-29 22 22 22 22 22 22
Provincial Context – Thinhorn Harvest (includes resident, non-resident & aboriginal hunter harvest).
Since 1976, Dall’s sheep harvest has declined; changing landscape pressures , weather severity and chronic killing of illegal rams has necessitated management action on the part of Wildlife branch.
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Harvest of Dall's Sheep in BC, by Residency
RESIDENT NON-RESIDENT Linear (RESIDENT) Linear (NON-RESIDENT)
Provincially - Thinhorn Harvest (includes resident, non-resident & aboriginal hunter harvest).
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Recorded Harvest of Thinhorn Sheep in BC: 1976 - 2014
Habitat Effect – This is what winter range should look like in terms of snow and ice accumulations.
Ideally winter range should shed snow and be wind-swept, exposing grasses and making other forage species available to sheep for grazing.
This is what winter range looks like following one of those winter snow/ice storms. Sheep cannot dig through surficial ice and as such cannot forage. In these instances if there is no immediate and prolonged melt, sheep either have to migrate to other winter range areas in close proximity (if they exist), or starve.
SUMMARY: The challenges are mounting for wild sheep in the north. The expansion of non-motorized vehicle use into sensitive habitats and what previously functioned as refugia for sheep; chronic illegal/unreported harvest; and the proliferation of wide-spread knowledge transfer will not come without cost. Licensed hunters MUST consider the ramifications of their actions more completely if they want to conserve wild sheep in Skeena and ensure liberal opportunity for future generations of hunters.
Closing Thoughts
Wild Sheep Society of BC 2015 AGM – Kelowna
SKEENA REGION THINHORN SHEEP
Presented by Bill Jex Regional Wildlife Biologist, Skeena Region
The End