GoatGuy
05-02-2008, 10:34 AM
From the Wildlife Review, Number 2. Volume 3 September, 1963
"British Columbia has abundant supply of Wildlife Today" P.5
Dr. James Hatter, Director, Fish and Game Branch.
Excerpt P.7
"Before 1900, only the occasional moose had penetrated into the southern half of the province. But the next 40 years saw the spread and increase of this largest member of the deer family into new areas to the south and west. In this period, more than 150,000 square miles of new territory were populated by moose. By the late 1930's, most areas were stocked to the limits of carrying capacity. The animal had moved into new areas with a virgin food supply created by mankind in pursuit of gold, grass and a homestead.
It was not long before the great news of the coming of the moose was shadowed with apprehension for the animal's future. With light hunting pressure, a season on bulls only and a relatively small population of resident hunters, the carrying capacity of the land was soon reached and starvation set in. Thousands of moose died between 1945 and 1950.
Couple with this, the moose's arch enemy, the timber wolf, flourished: wolf predation became a problem of major proportions. But even with this natural control, moose died of starvation and the accompanying heavy infestations of parasites. Similar but less spectacular die-offs still occur during sever winters; but it is the aim of wildlife management to remove as much as possible of the annual population surplus by application of seasons in which both males and females may be taken. There is, however, the constant threat of winter losses in areas where sufficient animals cannot be harvested."
"British Columbia has abundant supply of Wildlife Today" P.5
Dr. James Hatter, Director, Fish and Game Branch.
Excerpt P.7
"Before 1900, only the occasional moose had penetrated into the southern half of the province. But the next 40 years saw the spread and increase of this largest member of the deer family into new areas to the south and west. In this period, more than 150,000 square miles of new territory were populated by moose. By the late 1930's, most areas were stocked to the limits of carrying capacity. The animal had moved into new areas with a virgin food supply created by mankind in pursuit of gold, grass and a homestead.
It was not long before the great news of the coming of the moose was shadowed with apprehension for the animal's future. With light hunting pressure, a season on bulls only and a relatively small population of resident hunters, the carrying capacity of the land was soon reached and starvation set in. Thousands of moose died between 1945 and 1950.
Couple with this, the moose's arch enemy, the timber wolf, flourished: wolf predation became a problem of major proportions. But even with this natural control, moose died of starvation and the accompanying heavy infestations of parasites. Similar but less spectacular die-offs still occur during sever winters; but it is the aim of wildlife management to remove as much as possible of the annual population surplus by application of seasons in which both males and females may be taken. There is, however, the constant threat of winter losses in areas where sufficient animals cannot be harvested."