Vancouver Island farmers struggle to deal with threatened elk species
Farmers in the Cowichan Valley are losing crops and dealing with property and field damage caused by Roosevelt Elk, which have become a regular fixture on some farms in the area.
The threatened species typically moves to lower elevations during the winter months searching for more plentiful food, but in the last few years, in the Duncan area, some herds have been staying year-round on farmland.
In North Oyster, where Howie Davis has farmed cattle for more than 50 years, a herd of 12 elk showed up in December four years ago. Fortunately for him, they've so far always left by February or March.
"The herds are expanding every year," said Davis.
In the few months the elk are on the farm, Davis said they cause a lot of damage, knocking down fences, tearing the hay fields up with their hooves and eating whatever hay is growing over the winter "right down to nothing."
The elk damage to the hay fields has reduced the number of harvests from four to three in a season, said Davis.
"That’s one crop you don’t get to sell, less income," he said. "[The provincial government has] been compensating me for that … not to what it costs."
A University of Alberta research project intended to reduce human-elk conflict in the Cowichan Valley started in August 2021.
The team has set up multiple trail cameras in the valley to gather data on the herds' numbers and movements.
"To implement any sort of management strategies we need to have a good understanding of what’s happening with the population, how many are there, where are they on the landscape and how are they interacting with human infrastructure?" said Kate Rutherford, a masters student at the University of Alberta.
Rutherford says the provincial government has put a lot of effort into increasing the elk herds in the Cowichan Valley to create a healthy, sustainable population, which seems to have paid off.
"Everyone wants the population to be at healthy levels," she said.
"There’s also that balance, right, with maintaining a healthy population size but also minimizing the occurrence of human-elk conflict, which is going to increase as urbanization increases," she added.
Researchers are also planning to test deterrents to keep elk out of farms.
"We plan to broadcast predator vocalization on the perimeter of these fields where we’re currently monitoring elk using camera traps, and they will be broadcasted when triggered by animal movement," said Rutherford.
The team is also asking landowners in the area to contribute to their research by reporting elk sightings to them either through the iNaturalist app or by emailing the team directly at rooselk@ualberta.ca
The researchers hope to share their work with farmers and the provincial government as way to help with the management of Roosevelt Elk.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.