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Dee and Cal missed seeing the Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei)), which fascinatingly is a subspecies of the American Black Bear. They are neither albino nor related to polar bears, nor the "blond" brown bears of Alaska's "ABC Islands". This color variant is due to a unique recessive trait in their gene pool, and about 1/10th of their population have white or cream-colored coats. From what I can tell, they are found only in central British Columbia.
Because of their ghost-like appearance, "spirit bears" hold a prominent place in the Canadian First Nations/ American Indian mythology of the area. (See also Touching Spirit Bear.)
Way back on June 5, I wrote about grizzlies, and today it is time to look up black bears (Ursa americanus). I had been planning to do this for a while, and the trikers' visit yesterday to the AnAn Creek Wildlife Observatory in the Tongas National Forest provided the motivation to do it today.
Unlike the Grizzly, the American Black Bear has never been an endangered species. It is the most common bear species native to North America and lives through out much of the continent. Black bears are found in 41 states, including Arkansas. :-) Black bears are omnivores whose diet includes plants, meat, and insects. Their diet typically consists of about 10-15% animal matter. The black bear eats a wide variety of foods, mainly herbs, nuts and berries, but where available (as in Tongas) salmon is a favorite food.
Like many animals, black bears seldom attack unless cornered, threatened, or wounded. They are less likely to attack humans than Grizzly Bears and typically flee for cover as soon as they identify a human visitor. Deaths by Black Bear, though, are most often predatory, while the more numerous grizzly fatalities on humans are often defensive.
The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is one of the many marine mammals inhabiting Frederick Sound in the region of Petersburg.
"Of the estimated 6,000 humpback whales in the North Pacific, approximately 1,000 feed in Southeast Alaska during the summer. Nearly half of the Southeast Alaska feeding population, or approximately 500 whales, will enter the Frederick Sound area during the summer. They are after the very abundant herring and krill (shrimp-like crustaceans), which thrive in these waters. This makes Frederick Sound one of the best places in the world for observing the feeding behavior of humpback whales.
"Steller sea lions, harbor seals, Dall’s porpoise, and Orcas (killer whales) are also frequently seen. The area contains two major and several minor sea lion haul outs. Sea lions and humpback whales are often seen in the same feeding locations and interaction between these species is common. Harbor seals are seen both in the water and on the many rocky islets throughout the viewing area. A variety of sea birds is also present." (Petersburg)
"Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 kilometres each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the bubble net feeding technique.
"Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Due to over-hunting, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a whaling moratorium was introduced in 1966. Stocks of the species have since partially recovered; however, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution also remain concerns. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, there are at least 80,000 humpback whales worldwide." (Wikipedia)
Dee and Cal reported seeing six bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on Thursday. Although bald eagles have flourished in Alaska and Canada, the species was on the brink of extinction in the continental US late in the twentieth century. Thanks to conservation efforts (and to banning of DDT) stable populations have recovered.
"The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve was created by the State of Alaska in June of 1982. The preserve was established to protect and perpetuate the world’s largest concentration of Bald Eagles and their critical habitat. It also sustains and protects the natural salmon runs and allows for traditional uses; provided such uses do not adversely affect preserve resources. The Preserve consists of 48,000 acres of river bottom land of the Chilkat, Kleheni, and Tsirku Rivers. The boundaries were designated to include only areas important to eagle habitation. Virtually every portion of the preserve is used by eagles at some time during the year."
It was good to hear from Dee and Cal again last night and to read about their sighting of a moose. (Also interesting that they saw bison so far up into the mountains.) The species Alces alces is called "moose" in North America and "elk" in Europe. To confuse matters further, what North Americans call elk are the second largest species in the deer family, moose being the largest. Moose are also distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration.
The moose spotted by Dee and Cal was probably of the Western or Northwestern subspecies (Alces alces andersoni), although it could have been of the Alaskan variety (Alces alces gigas). Behind only the bison, the moose is the second largest land animal in both North America and Europe. Moose are generally solitary with the strongest bonds between mother and calf. Two individuals can sometimes be found feeding along the same stream. (See also Cetartiodactyla.)
Anyone remember the Rocky and Bulwinkle show?
The trikers are about 270 miles from Whitehorse, so communication may still be a problem for a while longer. Take care (and enjoy the Nisutlin Bay Bridge at Teslin Lake).
Since Dee and Cal are still incommunicado this evening, I am going to take another little side trip, down the Liard River again to Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte, home to the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae), not to be confused with the Plains Bison (Bison bison bison), the other surviving North American subspecies. The highest point of the Wood Bison is well ahead of its front legs, while the Plains Bison's highest point is directly above the front legs. The Wood Bison is also heavier, with large males weighing over 900 kilograms (2,000 lb), making it the largest terrestrial animal in North America.
In contrast to the other mammals I have written about here, the Wood Bison is threatened to the point of nearing the status of endangered. Efforts to preserve these populations have been partially successful, but encroachment threatens them as well as hybridization with plains buffalo polluting the genetic stock. Another issue is that of habitat fragmentation, which makes the observation of wood bison crossing the Liard in summer as well as winter an important one.
Being just a vicarious triker, I am free to explore places inaccessible to Dee and Cal. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be with them, but since I'm not, I will take a little side trip. The Kechika River will not make it to our "river list" because the trikers will neither cross it nor follow it, but it deserves a blog entry nonetheless because: (1) it flows into the Liard River, which the trikers will cross (and then follow) soon, (2) most of its course is within the Rocky Mountain Trench, which I've already written about, and (3) its pristine watershed is home to moose, caribou, stone sheep, grizzly and black bear, timber wolf, (which we have encountered before) as well as elk and mountain goat.
In the image here, I have redrawn the Alaska Highway in red to make it more visible. The green balloon is where Dee and Cal stayed last night. The Kechica River rises near the lower center of the image and flows northwest before curving toward the Liard, which it joins at the Alaska Highway. You can click on the image to make it larger, or if you go to the Google map, you can zoom in and out as you wish.
What makes this river valley especially special are "the wildlife populations and ecosystems which flourish around and along the river. ... Not only is the river corridor pristine, but the valley as a whole remains largely free from roads, leaving the Kechika River as the largest remaining undisturbed watershed in British Columbia." I would love to quote the entire website, but you owe it to yourself to follow the link above. Also read about the Denetiah Provincial Park.
The Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are threatened by habitat encroachment in Alberta and British Columia. They are not considered "endangered" because the species, Rangifer tarandus, is still widespread throughout the northern Holartic. But woodland and mountain caribou do not migrate over vast distances the way their northern cousins do, which makes them particularly dependent on their regional habitat. (See raysweb.net.)
"Mountain caribou are an 'ecotype' of woodland caribou that inhabit the deep snowbelt regions of the interior rainforest of British Columbia and parts of three US states. Their large hooves act as snowshoes that allow them to spend winters high in the subalpine and alpine forests, where snowpacks can reach depths up to four meters. The deep snows act as a barrier to predators, and as a platform that allows the caribou to reach their winter food source, lichens that grow on old-growth trees. Mountain caribou are the only member of the deer family to move to higher elevations in winter." mountaincaribou.org
"The main threats to caribou are habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. Industrial logging has removed much of the critical old-growth forest that caribou need for food and for cover from predators like wolves and cougars. After old forests are logged, young shrubs and trees grow. Moose, deer and elk move in, attracted by the new growth. Their presence in turn supports more predators which incidentally and unsustainably prey on caribou. Before their habitat was fragmented by logging and other developments caribou were largely able to avoid predation through their unusual seasonal movements and by spreading themselves throughout extensive old-growth forests."
Caribou are unique in the deer family in that both females and males grow antlers. Caribou are larger than deer and smaller than elk, with males weighing approximately 175 kg (350-400 lb). Their hollow fur insulates them through the long mountain winters.
Enough about predators for now, although I'd also like to write about cougars and black bears sometime. Another North American mammal that Dee and Cal might see in this region is the Thinhorn Sheep (Ovus dalli), not to be confused with Bighorn Sheep (Ovus canadensis). As the name suggests, the horns of this species are thinner than those of the Bighorn Sheep. They also have a more open curl, which some consider more elegant. Two races of Thinhorn Sheep call British Columbia home. The white Dall's Sheep is found in the Yukon and in the extreme northwestern corner of B.C. The darker Stone's Sheep is more widespread, being found in much of the region the trikers are in now, especially at Muncho Lake.
Living as they do in some of the most remote wilderness in British Columbia, both Dall's and Stone's Sheep have not suffered seriously from the encroachment of human activities. There are healthy populations of both, and that is perhaps a solid lesson in the importance of maintaining large tracts of intact habitat.
The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos) that lives in the uplands of western North America. Half of the grizzlies in North America live in Canada, and half of these live in British Columbia, mostly in the northern regions. (Look out, guys.)
In contrast to timber wolves, grizzlies are normally solitary animals except during salmon spawn, when they congregate alongside rivers and streams. Every other year females produce 1-4 young which weigh only 1 pound. They can grow to be over 1000 pounds in adulthood. Being omnivores, they feed on a variety of plants and berries including roots or sprouts and fungi as well as fish, insects and small mammals. The Grizzly Bear is primarily nocturnal and in the winter puts on up to 400 pounds of fat, becoming very lethargic. Although they are not true hibernators and can be woken easily, they like to den up in a protected spot, such as a cave, crevice or hollow log during the winter months.
The word "grizzly" in its name refers to "grizzled" or grey hairs in its fur, but when naturalist George Ord formally named the bear in 1815 he misunderstood the word as "grisly", to produce its biological Latin specific or subspecific name "horribilis". The Grizzly Bear is not generally considered endangered, but is listed as "threatened."
A biome is a major regional or global biotic community, such as a grassland or desert, defined by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate. The boreal forest biome is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in the world, characterized by conifer forests and a harsh continental climate with a very large temperature range between summer and winter. The global boreal forests are larger than even the Amazon rainforest.
"Like the Amazon, the boreal forest is of critical importance to all living things. Its trees and peatlands comprise one of the world's largest 'carbon reservoirs.'... Its wetlands filter millions of gallons of water each day. And as a vast and intact forest ecosystem, it still supports a natural food web, complete with large carnivores like bears, wolves and lynx along with thousands of other species of plants, mammals, birds and insects. The boreal forest is also home to hundreds of First Nations communities, many of which rely on fishing, hunting and trapping for their livelihoods. Despite its global significance, Canada's boreal forest is in great danger today." NRDC
Geography and history have been my primary topics up to now, along with a little biography. Time now for some ecology.
The Timberwolf or Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) once inhabited most of North America, but their range has been reduced by over half, now limited to Alaska, Canada, and small areas of the U.S. The timber wolf is typically a grizzled gray but color varies from white to black. The ears are erect and the tail is bushy and black tipped. The male is larger than the female and average weight is 55-130 pounds.
Wolves are highly social animals who mate for life and live in packs of 2-15. The strongest male is usually the pack leader; all members of the pack care for the young which helps unite the pack. An average of 7 pups are born to each female in April-June. Usually hunting at night, they feed primarily on large mammals by chasing down their victims either slashing tendons or driving it back to waiting pack members. The wolves howl as a means of communication and to express good spirits. The wolf will usually answer to a human howl, "which is truly a Canadian experience."
In 2007, the BC government announced a "partnership" to save British Columbia's endangered mountain caribou. The partners — BC government, logging companies, snowmobile clubs, heli-ski businesses and the Mountain Caribou Project (MCP) — had agreed to protect 2.2 million hectares of high quality mountain caribou winter habitat. They had also agreed to kill predators (i.e. timber wolves). But in the big media promotion, the habitat protection received all of the focus and predator control (which had been the subject of massive protest) received little attention.
According to ForestPolicyResearch.org "the press materials emphasized habitat protection but the actions have been just the opposite. The government is relying upon killing predators (wolves) as its silver bullet to increase caribou numbers without reducing the logging that is destroying habitat."
Dee and Cal missed seeing the Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei)), which fascinatingly is a subspecies of the American Black Bear. They are neither albino nor related to polar bears, nor the "blond" brown bears of Alaska's "ABC Islands". This color variant is due to a unique recessive trait in their gene pool, and about 1/10th of their population have white or cream-colored coats. From what I can tell, they are found only in central British Columbia.
