Some Estimates of Moose Populations in British Columbia During ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

- 82 - and the Game Harvest Questionnaire Analysis, or Hunter sample, which provides information obtained from hunters through the use of mailed questionnaires. The reliability of the information so obtained has been critically examined on a number of occasions (Sugden 1950, Larkin 1953, Taylor 1958, Mccaughran 1963, Finegan 1966) and can be regarded as satisfactory. A previous estimate of the moose population has been given as 300,000 (Robinson 1963) and the opinion was expressed that "A knowledge of the average annual harvest provides a valid basis for computing total population". considerable data has been collected since then and it has become possible to calculate moose populations a little more closely. The figures provided here are crude and generally represent minimum estimates, but the data is capable of refinement and the types of calculation used can be applied equally well to local populations within the general population. METHODS Three methods have been used to calculate minimum population sizes during the period 1950 to 1970: 1. In the period 1950 - 1957 hunters were asked to report the numbers of moose they had seen during their hunt. The ratio of Number Seen:Number Shot is, therefore, known, and by making the assumption that all animals in the population were seen once this can be applied to
- 83 - the harvest estimate to produce a population estimate. The possibility of bias due to overlap in observation, when there can be no overlap in the record of numbers shot, is reduced by the relatively low sampling levels employed during this period (1 hunter in 15 to 1 hunter in 10), and by the large amount of territory available for moose hunting, giving low hunter density. 2. Animals harvested in an age class of yearlings or over must have been alive in the previous year. For a given year the sum of harvests of successivelY older animals in the following years provides the minimum number alive in that given year. Sex and age ratios, provided by Cache Creek Records, can then be applied to give an estimate of total population. 3. In a similar manner the minimum recruitment of yearlings to the male population in a given year can be obtained from the sum of harvests of successively older age classes in the following years. This provides an estimate of the one-year-old class of males in the spring of that year, to which can be applied the age class distribution for the male component of the population in the same year to calculate the total number of males. Recruitment of yearling females is assumed to be equal to that of yearling males, as hunting mortality is low and evenly
Page 1: - 81 - SOME ESTIMATES OF MOOSE POPU
Page 5 and 6: - 85 - CONCLUSIONS Harvests of appr
Page 7 and 8: Table l. Composition of Moose Harve
Page 9 and 10: Table 2. Age Class Distribution and
Page 11 and 12: - 91- Table 3. Estimated Numbers in
Page 13 and 14: - 93 - Table 4. Estimated populatio
Page 15: - 95 - LITERATURE CITED Finegan, R.

Some Estimates of Moose Populations in British Columbia During ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?