Ruminations

Rescuing Woodland Caribou, Abandoning Wolves

"It's a funny feeling [as a retired Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry biologist] to know the ones you're moving [caribou] are going to make it, and the ones you're leaving [wolves] aren't."
Gord Eason, Michipicoten Island

"I was thinking about that [the proximity of variant-tasked helicopters, their crews waiting for action]. It's not the time to miss the shot ... It's important. There's a lot of people watching. There's a lot of money [involved in the enterprise]."
"At some point in my mind, I said, OK, I've done this hundreds of times before ... Just focus on the caribou..."
Serge Couturier, retired biologist

Biologist Serge Couturier fires a net gun at the airport in Wawa, Ont., earlier in February in preparation for the relocation of Michipicoten Island caribou. Supplied

Serge Couturier, with experience in the use of a net invented in New Zealand -- with the appearance of a shotgun but which shoots not lead, but a net that spreads wide to aid in the capture of wild animals, was waiting to do his part in the round-up of what is left of a onc-numerous herd of Michipicoten Island caribou. The large beasts that once roamed the island unmolested after their human-inspired introduction as a colonizing herd, have been hunted out relentlessly.

Not by human agency, but by the happenstance of a small pack of wolves swimming out to this southern Ontario island and finding it a perfect place for a population of wolves. Wolves well-fed by hunting the woodland caribou that had proliferated from the initial ten in the space of three decades to close to 700 of the species. And then that population was devastated by the wolf pack that had accessed the island over an ice bridge in 2014.

These wolves have been so efficient as an organized killing machine that they managed in a period of four years to reduce the caribou population close to its original size. Twenty caribou are now left on the island, matching the number of wolves in number. It was decided that culling the wolves would be more difficult than an operation mounted to rescue the caribou. Of course, removing those 20 caribou would leave the wolves with no prey and the obvious prospect of starvation.

A Woodland Caribou on Michipicoten Island. Trouble began for the Michipicoten caribou in late 2013 or early 2014 when the waters around the island froze over, creating a rarely formed ice bridge to the mainland. Four wolves took advantage of the conditions and trekked 15 kilometres to the island, where they found a thriving herd of nearly 700 caribou. (Christian Schroeder / file photo)

In the absence of prey the wolves would be destined to die; the remaining 20 caribou would last not very long in any event; the decision to remove the caribou to give them the opportunity to recover their numbers and thrive elsewhere obviously hastens the wolf population's disappearance. And then the island's original state void of any such animal herds would be restored.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in consultation with the Michipicoten First Nation formulated a rescue evacuation of the caribou in January with the intention of capturing nine of the caribou and to transfer them to the more remote, aptly named, Caribou Island. One helicopter was used to find the caribou, a second to capture one in a net fired from a net gun while a third and larger helicopter was to transfer the caribou to the wolf-free Caribou Island.

"They call them ghosts of the woods. They're so elusive", explained Chayse Penno, a member of the Michipicoten First Nation who had joined the capture team as a critical member whose expertise in untangling nets as a commercial fisherman, would be invaluable. It took some time before the first helicopter crew spotted tracks, then three female caribou.

The helicopter with Couturier and his net gun was radioed, and when the caribou emerged from the forest, Couturier was in the air, on the floor of the helicopter, net gun at the ready. When the caribou began to run, Couturier prompted the pilot to match the caribou speed. "Stay focused on this one -- OK, go over it", he directed, aiming the gun and firing.

"Like when we're shooting ducks: never shoot the ducks, shoot in front of the ducks", explained Couturier. "It was a perfect shot". The first of five successful captures when the gun shot a capsule which exploded into a net, fanning out to cover and capture the animal. The laborious process was repeated to trap and transport four females and one male. Another, second male will join them; the makeup of a new herd on Caribou Island.

"We think we've enabled that population to persevere", commented the ministry's director of science and research, who initially felt the mission might not succeed. Yet holding it to represent "the fiscal responsibility of government".