scientists from Parks Canada, Government of Nunavut, and University of Minnesota recently completed intensive aerial surveys of the steep coastlines of Sirmilik National
Park on northern Baffin Island.
With support from the World Wildlife Fund, the helicopter-based aerial surveys aimed to upgrade the detection methods for polar bears in high
topography coastlines and assess late summer bear use in the park.
The survey combined the expertise of local HTO
members and polar bear scientists on a series of transects flown out of Pond Inlet to look at the Baffin Bay polar bear population.
In total 62 bears were
observed, in different coastal habitat types, during nearly 2,500 km of helicopter transect flights.
These results and
upgraded techniques will help increase the confidence in estimates of total polar bear numbers.
The survey will also aid Parks Canada in monitoring polar bears in future years and managing visitors in order to
reduce bear-human conflicts.
This is an excellent example of the collaborative approach to polar bear conservation that was called for at
the January 2009 national Polar Bear Roundtable convened in Winnipeg by federal Environment Minister Jim
Prentice," said Peter Ewins, WWF-Canadas Arctic species officer. WWF is proud to be able to support this
kind of applied project at the community level, with local hunters and scientists working together to produce
the very best possible information and wildlife survey techniques to inform future decisions around habitat
and wildlife management and the threats to northern values.
HTO representative Elijah Panipakoocho said, I think that this polar bear survey was very useful
for Inuit in general. I am very happy that the researchers did not have to handle or tranquilize the bears and
am appreciative of Sirmilik National Park for ensuring that the polar bears were not being agitated. The pilot
disturbed. The survey was very thorough involving 17 hrs of helicopter time and covered a large area
including Sirmilik National Park and adjacent Inuit owned lands. My role as the local HTO representative
was to provide traditional Inuit knowledge, to help in determining the age and sex of bears and to provide
guidance on potential observation locations. Overall, I felt that this was the most accurate type of polar bear
survey done to date. The survey will provide good data for the park and the community.
"We were very pleased to work with WWF, local Inuit, researchers and the Government of Nunavut on this
project. The polar bear survey is an excellent example of combining traditional Inuit knowledge with western
science. Monitoring the number of polar bears using Sirmilik National Park and adjacent Inuit owned land
during the ice-free period is part of the park's long-term ecological monitoring program and will provide
baseline information for assessing the status and trend of bear numbers, said Carey Elverum, Park Manager,
Sirmilik National Park. In addition, the survey helped identify and confirm high polar bear concentration
areas. This information in turn will be used by park staff to manage park visitors and researchers so that the
potential for negative polar bear human encounters can be reduced."
The Government of Nunavut has a mandate to manage polar bear populations to do so, we need accurate
estimates of population size, said Dr. Elizabeth Peacock, Government of Nunavut Polar Bear Biologist.
Developing an aerial survey technique will expand our tool box of methods we use to study polar bears.
High topography complicates aerial surveys, and thus the opportunity to work in Sirmilik National Park
assists us in researching and developing this technique, which is currently being tested in the low-lying lands
of Foxe Basin in a Government of Nunavut University of Minnesota collaborative project.>
