Wildlife staff shortage linked to moose poaching

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This article was published 07/03/2019 (2438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The illegal killing of five moose last month may point to a problem of too few conservation officers to catch poachers, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation says.

The moose were shot Feb. 16-20 along Provincial Highway 304 between Powerview-Pine Falls and Manigotagan.

Designated by the province as “Game Hunting Area 26,” the moose population crashed in the region in the early 2000s. It was declared a restoration zone in 2012, and moose hunting was banned for all licensed hunters and First Nations people.

“We’re trying to rebuild the moose population, and 99.9 per cent of people are respecting the hunting ban,” said Earl Simmons, regional supervisor for Manitoba Sustainable Development, based in Lac du Bonnet.

“Then you have a few people spoiling it. You’re stealing from everyone. Poaching is stealing.”

GHA 26 covers a large area bordered by Hwy. 304 to the west and north, by the Ontario border to the east, and the Winnipeg River to the south.

The moose were all shot from the roadway. “Moose are generally more active when it gets cold and they come out to the highways,” said Simmons.

Aerial surveys determined the moose population in GHA 26 plunged to 823 in 2010 from 2,350 in 2000.

Factors for the steep drop are hunting, increased predation from wolves, and the spread of the parasite called brain worm, which is carried by white-tailed deer. Brain worm is lethal to moose but not deer, whose numbers have increased in the area.

An aerial survey in 2018 showed the hunting ban is working, with the moose population rebounding to 1,602.

At least three of the moose were cows with the potential to produce at least one calf per year, or 30 offspring over 10 years, Simmons said. When those female offspring are included, which can reproduce after two years, as many as 75 animals may have been lost.

Moose isn’t the only endangered species.

The number of provincial conservation officers has fallen to fewer than 80, from 140, in the past 15 years, said Brian Kotak, Manitoba Wildlife Federation managing director. “There is just no staff to enforce hunting regulations.”

As well, the province has shifted officers to the west side of the province to combat night-hunting, leaving other regions less protected, Kotak said.

The province neither confirmed nor denied the federation’s numbers, but they are consistent with previously cited figures.

The moose population is endangered in other parts of Manitoba, too. There is a moratorium on moose hunting around the Duck and Porcupine mountains on the west side of the province, but more are needed, Kotak said.

The moose population has fallen to 100-150 in some game hunting areas, he said. “When you get moose densities that low, it becomes almost impossible for them to recover.”

A moose has four times the weight of a deer and is prized by hunters.

Simmons is heartened by the number of people who have provided information to help catch moose poachers. “We’ve got some really good information, so conservation is following up on good leads and we have some evidence,” he said.

The investigation starts with “blood and a gut pile and maybe a head or two and moose hair,” he said. The dead animal’s DNA is recorded so investigators can match it to moose meat in a potential suspect’s possession.

The penalty for poaching is up to $10,000 per animal.

Anyone who may have travelled in the Powerview-Pine Falls-Manigotagan area during those dates and saw anything suspicious is asked to contact either the wildlife branch at 204-367-6130 or the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-782-0076.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca