Nothing lights up the landscape like a weeks-old wild animal being released into the grassy woods to frolic, roam freely, and eat trees. In this setting, even a moose is cute.
The two most recent guests at the Cochrane Ecological Institute are moose calves separated from their mothers – one came from Calgary and one from southern Alberta. When they are deemed ready, they will be released into the wild.
The one from Calgary was rehabilitated enough for staff to release him out into the large wooded area that’s part of Clio Smeeton’s facility northwest of Cochrane this week.
The one from southern Alberta benefited from some nutritious colostrum, courtesy of the dairy farmer who spotted it on her land looking lost.
Bovine colostrum is the milky fluid a cow secretes after giving birth. It helps improve immunity, fight germs, and promote gut health.
At first, the farmer managed to take care of the moose calf herself, before eventually reaching out to Smeeton when one her jersey cows, protecting her own offspring, decided the moose calf was not welcome and began knocking it over.
The CEI is beavering away at the wildlife rehabilitation work they’ve been internationally recognized for, in cooperation with some government wildlife agencies – and in spite of others.
Smeeton has a good working relationship with the Calgary fish and wildlife official who brought the moose calf to her a couple of weeks ago. But she remains frustrated and puzzled by the rationale – or lack thereof – behind some of the decisions made by the provincial ministry in charge of wildlife, even after a prolonged legal dispute with them over paperwork was finally resolved earlier this year.
The provincial authority charged with looking out for Alberta’s native animal species is now known as Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA).
The Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI), along with other wildlife stakeholders, has expressed disapproval of the provincial government’s recent re-organization that has unnecessarily complicated wildlife stewardship.
After May’s provincial election, the province decided to split the old Fish & Wildlife Division among four departments: Forestry and Parks, Agriculture and Irrigation, Environment and Protected Areas, and Public Safety and Emergency Services.
Two non-government organizations, Alberta Conservation Association and Alberta Hunter Education Instructor’s Association, also play roles in monitoring wildlife – albeit with different mandates.
The result, according to Smeeton and others, is needless confusion and a dearth of adequate research, while most of Alberta's wildlife populations continue to go widely unmonitored.
“Little to nothing is known about the province's wild bird population or mammal, amphibian, reptile population for that matter,” Smeeton said.
She is also puzzled as to why AEPA included a caveat to her recently re-instated permit to rehabilitate black bears, stating the CEI was prohibited from doing research of any kind.
Though she’s happy to again be allowed to take in black bears, Smeeton is fed up with a department that she feels doesn’t seem to care about wildlife.
Last year, in the wake of a number of black bear confrontations in and around Bragg Creek, provincial wildlife officials were invited to a meeting.
Alberta Environment and Parks officers euthanized a black bear sow on Aug. 28, 2022 after it got into a resident’s garbage. After scurrying up a tree, the three orphaned cubs were targeted for euthanasia as well, before residents intervened.
AEP representatives were invited to a Sept. 7 community meeting, but did not attend. They sent a statement instead which said in part, “Research on wildlife rehabilitation indicates that human intervention is likely to cause greater harm to these cubs based on their age.”
At that time, Lisa Dahlseide, education director with the CEI, said that statement is factually incorrect, based on experience with the same circumstances in other provinces.
“I don’t see that Alberta cubs would be different than Ontario cubs or B.C. cubs but apparently the Alberta government thinks they are – maybe they’re redneck cubs and can survive better. I’m not sure,” she said, with a hint of sarcasm.
As much as wild animals can “belong” to anyone, the province is the proprietor and protector of wildlife, a legal responsibility that extends beyond death. When the Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation wanted to auction off a Bighorn skull at a fundraiser last year, they had to get written permission from AEPA.
Dr. Kathreen Ruckstuhl, professor of biological sciences at the University of Calgary – and a Bighorn sheep expert – also has had issues with the way AEPA interacts with wildlife researchers such as herself.
Wildlife officers conducted a cull of Bighorn sheep east of Sheep River Provincial Park in mid-March this year.
“I found out about (it) through social media a day or two after they had culled all the sheep,” Ruckstuhl said this week from Switzerland, where she is currently on vacation.
“They did not tell me anything personally, and even after trying to get numbers – (how many) infected, etc. – nobody could give me a clear answer.”
AEPA representatives then told Ruckstuhl to leave the park when she was there doing a census in early April.
“They had closed the gate to the public, but since I had a permit to do my research in there, I went in anyway. They saw me the next day he told me I was contravening the wildlife act and escorted me out of the park,” she said.
AEPA’s stated reasoning for the cull was to prevent the spread of pneumonia found is some male Bighorns in the area.
Ruckstuhl disagreed with that assessment.
“I believe that there was not an immediate threat to the rest of the population, as males and females live segregated from each other from January til November,” she said.
Ruckstuhl is unclear on the province’s role in wildlife research and stewardship.
“As far as I am aware, they are not doing any research,” she said. “I shared a lot of my own data with Fish and Wildlife but I've never seen them do research.”
She added she believes the government should have informed her and consulted with the public about their decision to cull the adult males in the population she has studied for 29 years.
“Their decision has had a severe impact on my research and the sheep population for years to come,” Ruckstuhl said. “Yet, no one tells me anything about the true prevalence, the number of animals they culled. I simply know that around 20 males are now missing. The oldest males are now three years old.
“On top of that, the government decided to GPS collar 10 young rams from my study population against my wishes. They simply do not seem to care about what I think or what impact their actions could have.”
Last March, the CEI did a study on bats in the Cochrane area, sharing findings with other organizations on a local, provincial, and national level. An M.Sc. candidate from the University of Dublin, Ireland, worked on the project.
In addition to the research aspect of the work, the CEI provided bat conservation education to youth in schools and community groups in Cochrane, both in the classroom and in the field.
Their experimental project broke new ground in how wildlife researchers identify bats and added to the scientific knowledge in the field.
Smeeton, who has dedicated her life to research and helping animals, needs help. She’s sending out a ‘bat signal’ of her own.
“Alberta used to have an elite proven successful Fish and Wildlife Division to be proud of and one that worked compatibly with NGOs in undertaking wildlife rescue and rehab on the government’s behalf and
at no cost to government,” she said.
“The people of Alberta, if they want their indigenous wildlife and wilderness to survive, can no longer sit back and do nothing.”
The CEI is a registered charitable wildlife organization, whose expertise in rehabilitation based on scientific research has been recognized internationally. They’ve received the Order of the Bighorn from the province, and an Emerald Award from the Calgary corporate sector. Their advisory team has representation from Indigenous groups, internationally recognized academic specialists, farmers, ranchers, and others.
Next year will be the CEI’s 60th in operation.
The institute is funded through charitable donations and the occasional grant – there is no provincial funding. For more information on their work go to ceiwildlife.org.
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