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The Sts’ailes Nation is engaged on a plan for its first elk hunt in nearly half a century.
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The herd of elk was so sudden, Andrea Wafler mistook it for a herd of cows.
The photographer was strolling her canine close to Harrison Mills just a few weeks in the past when she noticed a gaggle of animals within the distance. Zooming in along with her telephone, she realized they had been elk.
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“It was extremely peaceable watching them,” she mentioned.
Wafler’s eye-catching video, which reveals greater than 35 elk fording a small waterway, is proof of the success of a program to reintroduce Roosevelt elk in a collection of B.C. watersheds from Squamish to Harrison Lake going again a number of a long time.
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By way of a partnership between the B.C. wildlife ministry and the Sts’ailes Nation, 60 elk had been relocated from the Sunshine Coast to Sts’ailes land between 2013 and 2015. Because the inhabitants has grown, preparations are underway for the primary elk hunt in nearly half a century.
Sts’ailes councillor Kelsey Charlie (Tixweltel) mentioned his grandfather was among the many final individuals to hunt elk in Sts’ailes territory, the place there have been as soon as massive herds. The animals disappeared as growth and overhunting chased them from B.C.’s South Coast.
Since their reintroduction, Sts’ailes members have been monitoring the elk herds, mentioned Charlie. It’s not unusual to see elk close to the village, notably when the calves are younger.
“The elk are flourishing within the territory,” he mentioned. “They’re simply thriving.”
Charlie estimated there are greater than 200 elk within the space now, unfold out amongst eight to 10 herds. As soon as a herd turns into too massive, they often cut up. Younger bulls, that are typically chased away by the dominant bull, could vary lengthy distances, travelling historic wildlife corridors and commerce routes within the huge wilderness above Harrison Lake, Stave Lake and Pitt Lake, the place there have been different elk relocation initiatives.
Dawn
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Charlie mentioned the Sts’ailes view the elk as a “sacred inheritance.”
The Nation is engaged on a plan to reap a few of the elk this fall. Beneath an settlement with the province, searching might be thought-about as soon as elk numbers reached 100, he mentioned.
“We might have began to reap a pair years in the past, however selected to not. We need to guarantee that our youngsters and their youngsters have this proper as properly.”
Charlie mentioned the Sts’ailes Nation will get “50 per cent, plus one” of all tags in a limited-entry searching draw. The variety of tags will likely be decided in accordance with wildlife administration practices.
He mentioned the Sts’ailes will harvest the primary elk earlier than the hunt opens. A potlatch ceremony is deliberate.
“Will probably be a ceremony that reveals now we have the utmost respect and honour for this useful resource in our territory.”
A conservation report from 2017 estimated there are about 1,600 elk in B.C.’s South Coast area. In line with info posted on provincial web sites, greater than 850 elk have been relocated from the Sunshine Coast or Vancouver Island over the past three a long time. Between 2007 and 2012, elk had been reintroduced in a number of watersheds, together with Theodosia/Powell-Daniels River, Toba Inlet, Quatam River, Phillips River, Pitt River, Higher Harrison and Bute Inlet.
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Among the many best dangers to the rising herds on the north aspect of the Fraser River are poachers and collisions with autos. In different elements of B.C., stress with farmers is widespread, as elk typically graze on hay pastures throughout rising season.
There have been scattered sightings of elk in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley for the reason that relocation program ramped up within the early 2000s, together with a bull elk that took refuge for a time with a herd of cattle on the south aspect of Sumas Mountain in Abbotsford.
In an announcement, the Ministry of Water, Land and Useful resource Stewardship mentioned no extra elk translocations are deliberate for the South Coast.
“The relocations have been largely profitable. Just about the entire releases have led to inhabitants recoveries inside the drainages they’ve been launched into, thus the shortage of plans for future releases.”
Requested in regards to the hunt deliberate for this fall, the ministry mentioned there are a number of energetic limited-entry hunts for elk on the South Coast. Ministry workers work carefully with First Nations, together with the Sts’ailes, to evaluate and develop acceptable harvest charges for every elk inhabitants unit.
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gluymes@postmedia.com
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