Problems in Conservation of Mammals in the North*

DAVID R. KLEIN, Ph.D. (British Columbia)

Alaska Cooperative Wildhfe Research Unit, College, Alaska 99701, USA ; currently Visiting Professor, Zoological Laboratory, University o f Oslo,

Box 1050, Blindern, Oslo-3, Norway

A B S T R A C T

Oil development, tourism, and expanding human popula- tions, are bringing about increased pressures on large mammals in the Arctic and Subarctic. Management o f marine mammals requires close international cooperation, and recent protection offered to the Polar Bear on a circum- polar basis is the result o f such cooperation. Currently, Seals in northern waters, with the possible exception o f the Harp Seal, are not being over-harvested. However, there is con- cern that whaling interests in the North Pacific may turn to harvesting Seals and Walrus in the Bering Sea, and misguided efforts o f animal protection societies threaten to disrupt management o f the Northern Fur Seal. Large land carni- vores are precariously close to extinction in Scandinavia, and although partial protection has recently been given to the Wolf and Bear in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, viable Wolf populations may no longer exist. In the USSR, although Bears and Wolves are persistently hunted wherever they are in conflict with animal husbandry, appreciable numbers continue to exist in the more remote areas. In Alaska, Wolf populations are expanding as a result o f partial removal o f bounties and stronger restrictions on aerial hunting. Oil development threatens the welfare o f mammals in the North through obstruction o f movements by pipelines, harassment by aircraft and other disturbances, and the impact from increased human populations.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

United States Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton recently announced that it was the policy of the Nixon administration to develop Alaska's North Slope. This development is already well under way at Prudhoe Bay, and we can expect an accelerated development surge following the settlement of the Alaska Native Land claims and the approval of a method of transporting Prudhoe Bay oil to market (Reed, 1970). Expanded interest in the Arctic as a source of oil for world markets is not restricted to Alaska. Comparable activity is also present in the

* Based on material presented to Panel on Problems in Conservation of Mammals at the 51st Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists, Vancouver, Canada, June 1971.

Canadian North, Greenland, and Spitsbergen--also in the USSR, where northern development has received governmental sanction for a much longer period than in the West.

This focus on the North is not restricted to oil or mineral development. Tourists in increasing numbers are flocking to once-remote Eskimo villages, and sport bunters willingly pay several thousand dollars for the opportunity to shoot a Polar Bear, as some advertisements state, 'while they last'. With improved health services among the people who are native to northern lands, local populations are expanding rapidly and are exerting increasing pressures on some wildlife populations.

While vast areas of the Arctic and Subarctic remain available as wildlife habitats and continue to support large numbers of animals, the productivity of these lands is low in comparison with more southern regions. Comparisons of biomass of large herbivores show that, on the Alaskan and Canadian tundra, stocking levels generally average 1001b per square mile (14-4kg per km2), or less, whereas figures of over 100,000 lb per square mile (14,400 kg per km 2) are not uncommon for some African savannas. It should be obvious that populations of northern mammals, such as the Caribou and Muskox (Lent, 1971), will not withstand high levels of exploitation.

MARINE MAMMALS

Marine mammals pose special problems because of their international status. I f effective management and conservation of marine mammal resources are to be achieved, close cooperation and agreement between circumpolar countries is required. The Polar Bear provides a good example of where such cooperation has worked. Exchange of research data, delineation of research needs, and assignment of research responsi- bilities among five nations, is leading to a clearer understanding of the biology of this Bear (Jonkel, 1970). This has been followed by a recognition of the

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Biological Conservation, Vol. 4, No. 2, January 1972--1~ Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England--Printed in Great Britain

98 Biological Conservation

wisdom of restricting the world-wide harvest of Polar Bears. As a result, more restrictive harvest quotas have now been established for Alaska, Canada, and Spitsbergen, and the world-wide annual harvest has been reduced by about one-half to considerably less than 1,000 animals. In addition, Norway recently pro- hibited the use of traps and set guns for taking Polar Bears on Spitsbergen, and the Alaska Board of Fish and Game has announced their intention to prohibit the use of aircraft for Polar Bear hunting at some, as yet unspecified, future date. In spite of this, 15 illegal Polar Bear hides were seized in a single shipment in Alaska in 1971. They apparently were the result of guided hunts outside the quota system. In the USSR, Dr S. M. Uspensky, the Russian Polar Bear authority, acknowledges that the illegal killing of Polar Bears, which are completely protected by law, has increased in recent years.

The close international cooperation that has been associated with management of the Polar Bear* has been lacking for most other marine mammals. In the Bering Sea, the Walrus, Ribbon Seal and, to a lesser extent, the Bearded Seal, are particularly vulnerable to commercial harvest because they inhabit the ice front which is readily accessible by ship. Intensive harvesting of the Ribbon Seal by Russians in the early 1960s so drastically reduced their stock that the Russians have now placed an annual quota of 5,000 animals on the species. Now there is some concern that whaling interests from Japan, and possibly Russia and Korea, deprived of Whales because of their over- exploitation, may turn to the currently abundant stocks of Seals and Walrus in the Bering Sea. Such exploitation, in the absence of international harvest agreements based on reliable population data, poses a threat to the welfare of the species concerned. Cur- rently, however, seals in the northern waters, with the possible exception of the Atlantic Harp Seal, are apparently not being over-harvested. The recent well- meaning but misguided efforts of several animal protection societies in the United States to eliminate all killing of the Northern Fur Seal may actually work to the detriment of this species. Their future wellbeing may be dependent upon international agreements which exist primarily to ensure that sound manage- ment will continue to maintain healthy populations which will yield annual commercial harvests of benefit to all members of the agreements. Abrogation of these agreements because of unilateral action by the United States could expose the seal stocks to uncon- trolled competitive exploitation on the high seas.

* See, for example, the accounts of the working meetings of Polar Bear specialists published in Biological Conserva- tion, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 99-100, October 1968, and Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 154-5, January 1971.--Ed.

Around Spitsbergen the Atlantic Walrus survives as only a few individuals and is given complete protection, yet its re-establishment may be dependent upon the influx of animals from Franz Josef Land. Unfortunately, very little information is available about the status of these Russian animals.

The harvest of both the Pacific and Atlantic Walrus by Eskimos, while partially controlled and apparently within the present productive potential of the herds, remains extremely inefficient and wasteful. An esti- mated 50 per cent of the animals killed are not recovered. More efficient methods of harvest are available, and strong efforts should be made to encourage the hunters to adopt them.

Man's greatest impact on marine mammals may not be through direct exploitation but rather as a result of pollution of the marine environment. Because marine mammals are at the tops of food pyramids, persistent residues of pesticides and other pollutants, such as DDX and heavy metals, tend to become con- centrated in their tissues. Now evidence is accumulating which suggests that reproduction may be impaired by high concentrations of DDT in the tissues of both California and Steller's Sea Lions.

L A R G E L A N D CARNIVORES

Large land carnivores are particularly vulnerable to the inroads of Man in the North. In Scandinavia the populations of Brown Bear, Wolf, Wolverine, Lynx, and Arctic Fox, have been reduced to pre- cariously low levels. Their survival as species in that part of the world remains in doubt because of their conflict with the husbandry of domestic stock and Reindeer. Bounties continue to be paid on most of these species by various levels of government and by Reindeer herders and farmers. Occasionally, because of mukiple bounties, a hunter may obtain over a thousand dollars for a single Wolverine. In spite of this pressure, the Wolverine and Lynx continue to hang on in Norway, Sweden, and Finland; however, they have been exterminated from many local areas.

In recent years, Brown Bears have received partial protection in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, through shortened hunting seasons, protection during denning, and establishment of reserves and national parks. Frequently, however, tile Lapp Reindeer herders retain hunting rights within the reserves and parks, and thus minimize the effectiveness of these measures.

In 1971, Norway extended complete protection to the Brown Bear and Wolf; however, as a concession to the livestock interests, this was introduced on a one-year-trial basis which is hardly a long enough period to provide a criterion for judging its effect.

Klein: Problems in Conservation of Mammals in the North

Although individual Wolves occur in Norway, it is doubtful if viable populations exist there. The Wolf is so persistently hunted throughout Scandinavia that no country claims a resident population; influx of Wolves from Russia may account for their continued presence.

Survival of the Wolf as a permanent component of the native fauna of Scandinavia is dependent upon the availability of wild ungulates as prey in the few remaining large wilderness areas which would support them. Most such areas support European Elk (Moose) but are also grazing lands for domestic Reindeer, and Reindeer herders have little sympathy for the survival of the Wolf at the expense of their Reindeer. Moderni- zation of Reindeer husbandry practices and the changing way of life of the Lapp herders is resulting in the abandonment of some Reindeer grazing areas, and feral Reindeer are becoming established in several of these areas. The future may bring about a sufficient reduction in Reindeer husbandry and a corresponding establishment of wild Reindeer to allow the successful re-establishment of the Wolf in Scandinavia.

In the USSR, the vastness of the country itself offers a degree of protection for the large carnivores. In addition, unlike Scandinavia, there are extensive areas where there is little or no animal husbandry to provide conflicting interests. With the exception of areas where they pose a threat to domestic livestock, including Reindeer, most carnivores are managed as other wildlife species with sufficient protection provided to maintain viable population levels. Wolves appear to be somewhat of an exception, and the philosophy that Wolves are incompatible with Man's interests seems to prevail in the USSR. Very intensive campaigns are carried out in, and adjacent to, domestic Reindeer range-lands in an attempt to eradicate Wolves com- pletely. Wolf populations dependent on wild ungu- lates are often looked upon as reservoirs from which Wolves will move into domestic livestock areas, and their control is justified on this basis. A recent article in Soviet Life (Oshanin, 1971), in response to criticism from the West of the Russian Wolf eradication pro- gramme, protested that although Wolves are largely in conflict with Man's interests in the USSR, they are recognized as an element of the native fauna and are offered protection in some nature reserves. Control measures, the article maintained, are aimed at local elimination of Wolves rather than their wide-scale extermination.

In Alaska the Wolf has been the focus of very much attention in the past two years largely as a result of interest generated by the 1969 National Broadcasting Company's TV film The Wolf Men, which emphasized the aerial hunting of Wolves for bounty. Since 1970 the State Legislature, which had earlier established

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bounties on Wolves, Wolverines, Coyotes, and Hair Seals, has authorized the Alaska Board of Fish and Game to administer the bounty system. The Board, in turn, will not authorize the payment of bounties on Coyotes and Wolverines and has restricted bounties on Wolves to those taken in the coastal southeastern 'panhandle' of Alaska, where aerial hunting is not practical. Seal bounties are paid only in the northern Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean areas, and this is widely recognized to be largely a welfare measure for the Eskimos. Wolverines, Coyotes, and Wolves, are treated as other fur-bearers in Alaska, and open trapping seasons coincide with those for most other fur-bearers. The Wolf is also considered a game animal, and sport hunting of Wolves is permitted in most areas. In the absence of aerial bounty-hunting, Wolf populations in interior and arctic Alaska, which had been depleted, are now on the increase.

Both the Brown and Grizzly Bears are eagerly sought as big-game trophies in Alaska and are the basis of a highly competitive guiding industry. Because of the high monetary value of these Bears to the guides, competition is keen and hunting pressures are intense. Past efforts to establish more restrictive regulations to protect over-exploited populations have often failed because of political resistance organized by the guides. As with Polar Bears, illegal guiding practices result in a substantial increase in the annual kill over those Bears that are taken legally. The widespread use of airplanes for transportation in Brown and Grizzly Bear hunting makes enforcement of existing regulations difficult, and at the present time, Brown and Grizzly Bear populations are being exploited at much more intensive levels than is true of any of the other big game species in Alaska.

IMPACT OF OIL DEVELOPMENT

Oil exploration, and its development and trans- portation to market, pose special problems in the conservation of mammals. The increased numbers of people in previously unpopulated areas usually results in increased interest in hunting. For such species as the Barren Ground Grizzly, the Wolverine, and the Muskox, which occur in very low densities, any increase in harvest may be excessive. The increased human activity also increases the likelihood of nuis- ance encounters which often result in the death of the offending animals. Improper garbage disposal at oil exploration camps in Alaska and Canada ultimately has led to the death of numerous Grizzly Bears, Arctic Foxes, and Wolverines, that have been attracted to them.

In the flat arctic coastal plain of Alaska and western

100 Biological Conservation

Canada, the only elevated and well-drained land suitable for denning sites for Foxes, Wolverines, and Wolves, is often afforded by stream and river banks, sand-dunes near the mouths of large rivers, and pingos (mounds created by frost action). Unfor- tunately, such sites have received heavy use by Man because they provide good camp-sites, travel routes, and observation points; in many cases their use as denning sites is no longer possible.

Perhaps the most widespread, yet most difficult to evaluate, impact of oil development on arctic mam- mals is that of harassment by aircraft. Both heli- copters and fixed-wing aircraft receive intensive use in all aspects of oil exploration and development, and they are involved in considerable harassment of wildlife, both accidentally and intentionally. Heli- copters, both because of their low-level flight and the characteristics of the sound generated by their rotors, appear to be much more disturbing to wildlife than fixed-wing aircraft. Species occurring in low density, such as the Grizzly Bear, Wolf, Wolverine, and Musk- ox, may be most detrimentally affected by aircraft harassment because their uniqueness increases the likelihood that individual animals will be repeatedly hazed in attempts at photography and close observa- tion. In a short article in an oil industry journal, Dr V. Geist (1971) pointed out the physiological stress and increased energy demand which results from the harassment of such animals as Caribou or Mountain Sheep. Presumably, females during late pregnancy and lactation, very young animals, and those in poor condition during winter, are living close to the dietary limitations of their environment; increased energy demands resulting from aircraft harassment could mean the difference between sur- vival and death. Experience in the USSR with domes- tic Reindeer indicates that disturbance by aircraft during late pregnancy or calving may result in abortions or calf mortality, and stress by aircraft during periods of extreme cold may lead to pulmonary emphysema (Zhigunov, 1968).

Snow toboggans are becoming increasingly numerous throughout the Arctic and Subarctic for recreational use as well as for subsistence hunting and Reindeer herding. The increased mobility which they provide, their speed, and noise, all generate increased pressures on mammals of the North. In northern Scandinavia, Lapp Reindeer herders track and run down predators with snow toboggans. The Arctic Fox, although protected by law, is frequently illegally taken by this method, and it remains perilously close to extinction there. In the arctic and coastal tundra areas of northern and northwestern Alaska, Wolverines have been over-exploited, at least locally, through the use of snow toboggans.

The obstruction of movements of Caribou and other mammals by oil pipelines has received con- siderable attention in the news media since the dis- covery of oil at Prudhoe Bay (Reed, 1970; Weeden & Klein, 1971). The problem is a real one because approximately 50 per cent of the proposed 48-inch, 800-mile long (122-cm, 1,287-km) Trans-Alaska Pipeline would be elevated above ground. Without special and workable design provisions to allow for the passage of large mammals, it could be an impass- able barrier. In addition, other pipelines including routes through Canada for gas as well as oil are likely to be built. The gathering system in the Prudhoe Bay field will present a maze of smaller-diameter, elevated pipelines in an area used by several thousand summer- ing Caribou. Roads and possibly railroads will also connect the oil-producing areas with existing trans- portation systems.

In Scandinavia, traditional movements of wild Reindeer have been disrupted by railroads and high- ways; also, fences constructed to separate domestic Reindeer herds have created special problems for Elk because they have allowed passage of adults but not their young (Klein, 1971). Similar problems can be anticipated with pipeline and associated road and railroad construction in the American Arctic and Subarctic. Studies (partly funded by oil interests) of Caribou movements and behaviour are now under way in Alaska and Canada to gather information which presumably can be used to minimize the detrimental impact of the pipelines that will be constructed. Of course, application of knowledge resulting from these studies will be largely dependent upon the good intentions of the oil industry. Two simulated pipelines were erected in the summer of 1971 at Prudhoe Bay as a basis for observations of the reactions of Caribou to several designs for allowing their passage; also, winter studies of the reaction of Reindeer to various ramps and underpasses will be carried out in 1972 on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The emphasis of these studies is on animal behaviour, an area of science sorely neglected in past wildlife research of an applied nature. The need for a better understanding of the behaviour of species which will be affected by oil development is becoming increasingly apparent.

In spite of the apparent, albeit belated, willingness of the oil industry to support research into the solution of wildlife problems which oil development has genera- ted, and in spite of the close scrutiny that a concerned public will provide, there is little doubt that oil development will have pronounced influences on wildlife of the North. Animals are a product of their environment, and the drastic alteration of that en- vironment that will ultimately occur will have far- reaching effects on the wildlife which it supports.

Klein: Problems in Conservation of Mammals in the North

References

GEIST, V. (1971). Is big game harassment harmful ? Oilweek, 22(17), pp. 12-13.

JONKEL, C. J. (1970). Some comments on Polar Bear management. Biological Conservation, 2(2), pp. 115-9, 5 figs.

KLEIN, D. R. (1971). Reaction of Reindeer to obstructions and disturbances. Science, 173, pp. 393-8, 4 figs.

LENT, Peter C. (1971). Muskox management controversies in North America. Biological Conservation, 3(4), pp. 255-63, 2 figs.

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OSHANIN, S. (1971). What will happen to the Wolf? Soviet Life, 172(1), pp. 52-5, 5 figs.

REED, John C. (1970). Effects of oil development in Arctic America. Biological Conservation, 2(4), pp. 273-7, map.

WEEDEN, R. B. & KLEIN, D. R. (1971). Wildlife and oil: a survey of critical issues in Alaska. Polar Recorde, 15(97), pp. 479-94.

ZHIGUNOV, P. S. (Ed.) (1968). Reindeer Husbandry. Israel Programme for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem: 348 pp., illustr.

The Morris Animal Foundation and its Zoo and Wildlife Division

Individuals and organizations devoted to preserva- tion of the species that are fast disappearing from the Earth may find unexpected obstacles in their path if the experience of the Morris Animal Foundation is typical.

The Foundation was set up in 1948 by a far-sighted American veterinarian, Mark L. Morris. The original aim of the Foundation was to sponsor research that might lead to the prevention and cure of diseases of Man's companion mammals--the Dog, the Cat, and the Horse. Since the funding of the first proposal in 1954, the Foundation has sponsored more than 200 research projects at veterinary schools in the United States and Canada.

About four years ago, in recognition of, and agree- ment with, a strong public sentiment to prevent the extinction of any more animals, the Foundation created a division for zoo and wild animals. The action was taken in the belief that research into the role which disease plays in extinction would be helpful. But even more important was the conviction that research could give significant information on the breeding in captivity of animals that are in danger of extinction. Roger Caras, well-known American natur- alist and writer, became Chairman of the new Zoo and Wildlife Division, and began to spearhead develop- ment of these goals.

In attempting to implement the new aims, several obstacles presented themselves. Zoos, the very establishments most interested in the propagation of endangered species, are often ill-equipped and poorly staffed for the technical type of research that is neces- sary. On the other hand, veterinary schools do not have the facilities for handling such non-domestic animals as are involved; nor do they have the required interest in their problems.

Another difficulty has been soliciting funds for this

rather crucial work. With animals such as the Dog, Cat, and Horse, the breeders and owners are nicely organized into national and regional bodies and have built-in interests in the benefits of research. However, the people who are interested in saving the wild animals of the world are not so easily categorized. This makes it hard to reach them and to get them working together. Indicative of the problem is the fact that the Foundation has been able to fund only one zoo and wildlife research project so far. What is more, only 15 proposals have been submitted in the four-year history of the Division.

Ideas for research projects would be welcome from any source. Each idea must be submitted as a formal proposal and will be reviewed by a committee of scientists who will 'grade' its worthiness. The Founda- tion provides leaflets on request which outline the procedure for submitting a proposal.

The Morris Foundation hopes to iron out some of the problems it has encountered in such research efforts at a proposed international convocation of the world's zoo and wildlife specialists. Delegates from all over the world would be invited to the conference to discuss the mechanisms of extinction and outline the role research could play in halting them.

Any person with ideas on how to solicit worthy research proposals, where to look for the researchers with the skills and facilities for carrying out the programmes, and how to reach a large segment of the public interested in supporting such work, should write to the Morris Animal Foundation.

CLAUDE RAMSEY, Executive Director, Morris Animal Foundation, 531 Guaranty Bank Building, Denver, Colorado 80202, USA,