Scat Dogs

Rescue dogs are helping to shape our understanding of what threatens species — like caribou — that are on the Alberta’s endangered species list.

The “conservation canines” were used to find scat samples from caribou, moose and wolf during winter oil exploration programs for an innovative study in northern Alberta. The project, sponsored by Statoil, investigated the influences of wolf predation, habitat fragmentation and human use on caribou and moose stress, nutrition and resource use in the oil sands.

“These dogs work five times more efficiently than human observers,” says Dr. Sam Wasser, lead researcher and Director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington.

The scat they uncover is analyzed for hormones and DNA in the Center’s lab, revealing a surprising array of information about population size, distribution, stress and nutrition for each study species. The findings of the Statoil study can be used by industry and by wildlife managers in the Government of Alberta to make better-informed decisions on how to manage wildlife populations.

“We learned that caribou populations are more than double than previous estimates indicated,” says Mr. Tim Shopik, Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Statoil Canada Ltd. “That is very good news.”

The study also found that wolves — considered a primary predator for caribou — far prefer a diet of deer (80 per cent) over caribou (10 per cent). Dr. Wasser says he hopes that information will influence Alberta’s wildlife management plans.

Dr. Wasser’s study recommends many different ways to support caribou population recovery. While predator population management is one of the ways to do this, Dr. Wasser’s study suggests that other management techniques may be more effective, including minimizing disturbance to wildlife and ensuring the right food sources are accessible in optimal grazing areas.

Caribou eat primarily lichen in winter, when most females are pregnant. Hormone analysis of lichen-rich fecal samples found that increased lichen consumption in the winter diet leads to healthier pregnancies and therefore, more caribou calves.

“If we move ice roads away from lichen-rich areas, then caribou foraging will have fewer interruptions by oil workers,” says Dr. Wasser, a passionate conservationist.

Based on study results, Statoil is testing methods to propagate lichen. The company is also testing ways to reduce predator and human disturbance to caribou. For example, study results showed that wolves like to travel on packed snow in the winter. Statoil is placing roll-back logs over portions of select rights of way to deter wolves from travelling on them. Combining these methods could produce healthier offspring at less risk of predation.

“I’m interested in seeing these studies have a larger impact,” says Mr. Shopik. “If we can demonstrate we are having a positive effect influencing the wolves and protecting the caribou, perhaps other companies will look at it.”