As a new wolf pack hunts around the edges of the Banff townsite, Parks Canada will review its elk management plans, including how many elk to kill during the annual cull.
Parks plans to do its annual fall survey in the coming weeks to get a better handle on elk numbers, and at the same time, is keeping close tabs on the new wolf pack that has been seen in the area.
“We will review the 2015 data regarding elk numbers, mortalities, behaviour, occurrences and conflicts with humans,” said Christina Tricomi, a media spokesperson for Banff National Park. “This information will help guide winter management actions.”
Parks Canada would not grant the Outlook’s request for an interview with one of its wildlife experts.
When asked for more information as part of an interview request, Tricomi wrote: “Based on the nature of the questions, we are of the view that we were able to respond fully and sufficiently in writing.” The Outlook, however, did not provide a list of questions.
Parks Canada has an elk population target of between 150 and 300, to be relatively well dispersed throughout the Bow Valley. In the area around the townsite, they ideally want no more than 100 elk in winter and less than 50 in summer.
The count last May put the numbers at 181 elk between the park’s east gate and Castle Mountain, with estimates of 21 calves per 100 cow elk.
“Spring elk numbers have been stable,” wrote Tricomi. “The 2015 total count and the ratio of calves/cows are close to the average from the previous five years and are within the overall population target of approximately 150-300.”
High elk numbers in and around the Banff townsite in the 1990s resulted in serious ecological effects, such as vegetation degradation and an imbalance in predator-prey relationships. There were also several serious attacks on people.
As part of an elk management strategy, more than 200 habituated elk were trapped and re-located between 1999 and 2002. Once these animals were removed, an aversive conditioning program on the rest of the herd aimed to increase their wariness and keep them out of town.
The elk strategy aimed to restore migratory behaviour, reduce encounters with people, restore wildlife corridors and habitat security, and improve forest and grasslands by reducing elk browsing.
As well, the elk plan identified an annual cull to help control the elk population, notably the more habituated townsite elk, known as townies. The strategy does allow for up to 20 elk to be culled.
Typically, some carcasses are given to First Nations for food and ceremonial purposes, while some meat is left for scavengers or used for baiting purposes for park research.
“This (this winter’s cull) will be determined after we review all of the 2015 data, including fall elk count,” wrote Tricomi.
The strategy also identified setting up fences in the underpasses on the Trans-Canada Highway near Banff to keep elk on the north side of the highway where they were more likely to be hunted by wolves and cougars.
“Our plan is to again install temporary rail fences in wildlife underpasses in an effort to retain elk in the Cascade corridor, where they are more accessible to wary predators,” wrote Tricomi.
Parks Canada has been getting reports of the new wolf pack around the townsite. The wolf pack is believed to have up to five members.
“These wolves do seem to be concentrating their activity in some of the surrounding habitat around the townsite,” said David Gummer, a wildlife ecologist for Banff National Park, in an earlier interview.
“They are trying to make a living here, and that’s related to the availability of elk and deer in this area.”
In late September, wolves were seen feeding on an elk carcass on the banks of Forty Mile Creek, near the Fenlands Loop trail. A few weeks before that, the pack fed on elk near Vermilion Lakes.
These wolves are thought to be from the same pack that killed a deer in the Banff townsite in summer. Residents watched as wolves chased down and killed the deer on Cougar Street on Aug. 11.
It’s suspected it may be a new Bow Valley pack that has formed, perhaps with wolves from the Fairholme pack, a pack in Kootenay National Park or even wolves that have been seen in the Spray River Valley.
