Background Articles

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd in Alaska has continued to decline, with a 7% decrease in population from the previous year, prompting concerns about the need for harvest reduction to preserve the herd.

A possible cougar sighting has been reported in Whitehorse's McIntyre neighbourhood, with conservation officers taking the report seriously but considering it unconfirmed.

Moose in Southeast Alaska are being harvested in new areas, indicating a potential expansion of their population and distribution.

Last month the Finnish Food Authority ordered all minks to be put down at fur farms with diagnosed avian influenza infections. Now the order has been expanded to cover all animals at such farms. The agency’s latest order affects approximately 115,000 animals, including 109,000 foxes.

Hoonah, Alaska is providing residents with free bear-resistant trash bins to address the problem of bears getting into trash, but most towns in Southeast Alaska cannot afford them, leading to conflicts between bears and humans.

Countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, and the Phillipines have halted imports of Swedish pork following the recent discovery of African swine fever. 7 dead wild boars have now been confirmed infected.

The number of moose in Swedish forests has decreased by a third in the past decade, leading hunters to worry about the future of the annual moose hunt and calling for lower hunting quotas to stabilize the population.

Some residents in Fort Smith, N.W.T., say they're seeing more bears in and around town this year, and it's not clear why.

North Slope experts think Indigenous experts should take the lead on wildlife management. When it comes to belugas, caribou and ice seals, managing agencies and researchers are often in charge of setting hunting regulations and analyzing the animals.

The current outbreaks of avian influenza (also called “bird flu”) have caused devastation in animal populations, including poultry, wild birds, and some mammals, and harmed farmers’ livelihoods and the food trade. Although largely affecting animals, these outbreaks pose ongoing risks to humans.

People spread Covid-19 to wild white-tailed deer more than 100 times in late 2021 and early 2022. The infection circulated widely in the deer population in the United States, and in at least three instances, researchers suspect the virus was passed between deer where it picked up unique genetic changes and then re-infected humans.

Scientists say they found the virus in one of five submitted chicken meat samples that the cats ate.

With recent events between Musk ox, humans, and dogs, Nome looks for solutions to mitigate the problem. As they graze on patches of grass, often within city limits, the potential for dog conflict and even human interactions are becoming common.

Voles breed like crazy. They can have three or four litters of six to eight kits each summer. Babies are born hairless, but are weaned and on their own in less than three weeks. Females are ready to breed at 30 days.

Those studying ticks in Alaska currently are more concerned about non-native ticks hitching a ride on pets that arrive in the state from Outside, and infecting wildlife here.

As Alaskan permafrost warms, hibernating arctic ground squirrels generate less heat, causing females to emerge from hibernation up to 10 days before their male counterparts – a mismatch that could have large, cascading ecological impacts. While reduced thermogenesis due to warming temperatures could allow the squirrels to conserve energy and, thus, increase winter survival, a shortened hibernation season could also increase the exposure of the animals to hungry predators, altering mortality rates, particularly for earlier emerging female squirrels. The phenological mismatch between the sexes may also disrupt reproductive rates. And over longer time scales, continued warming in the Arctic may lead to changes in male squirrel seasonal behaviors, say the authors.

Homer police confirmed the Wednesday capture of the “wanted fugitive and somewhat local celebrity," otherwise known as an invasive species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Subsistence Management held the second public hearing on May 2 about the proposal to reduce the caribou harvest limit for resident hunters across the range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd from five caribou per day to four caribou per year, only one of which may be a cow.

Arctic Foxes are curious animals of the North and often will befriend humans and not be afraid. Often times they move into other fox areas and territory.

State officials say Alaskans who encounter bats should avoid any physical contact. The state's last rabid bat was found last June near Juneau.