After a black bear was shot dead in her front yard, a Whitehorse resident is concerned that people are inadvertently luring bears into the neighbourhood by feeding wildlife.
Twice in the last couple of weeks, dog have been attacked by lynx. Biologist Tom Jung says climate change may be a factor, affecting the amount of food available. Snowshoe hares in Yukon are now in about the third year of decline.
Yukon conservation officers are patrolling after a black bear chased a child near Whitehorse last weekend. The boy's mom managed to get between her child and the animal.
Officers are dealing with more reports of foxes than in the past. The animals can be a nuisance, denning on people's properties, digging in gardens, making off with pieces of clothing or footwear, and preying on pets.
The problem is that there just aren't many wild berries this year in southern Yukon. Bears are typically feasting on soap berries and cranberries this time of year, as they try to fatten up before winter.
Trapping has its good years and bad years. After a few dismal ones the Yukon Trappers Association says the territory is finally seeing some prime pelts this year. It's all thanks to recent cold weather.
The Yukon government crunched the numbers and confirmed that 2017 was a relatively bad year for human-bear conflicts in Yukon. It's estimated that more bears were killed this year than in any of the previous five years.
A 1990 elk management plan recommended 100 animals as a reasonable number, based on resources available for the animals, Cathers said. But that number has since ballooned, causing more agricultural conflicts. Part of the problem goes back to 2008, when elk wintered in fenced off enclosures after winter ticks were discovered.
In New England where ticks have decimated moose, the average tick load is 40,000, and some have been found with 90,000.
Officials worry about the possible transmission of pathogens between domestic sheep and goats and wild thinhorns, an issue which has caused some tension among local farmers.
A big emphasis in the last few years has been updating and adding to the list of species known to occur in the Yukon. This past year, a whopping 1,973 species of plants, insects and animals have been added.
Wildlife officials typically tell Yukoners to keep an eye out for bears coming out of hibernation in April. 'We don't generally get sightings reported this time of year.'
Environment Yukon's carnivore biologist is enthused about cougar sightings near Whitehorse, as tracks suggest the big cats are breeding in the territory.
Some Whitehorse dog owners have been startled by aggressive coyotes on a city bike trail recently. One dog owner says his pet was attacked and had a mouthful of fur ripped off by one of the wily canines.
The lynx was seen in the Whitehorse area and it was captured on video by someone living there. That footage made its way to Jung who reported it in an article published in October in the scientific journal Mammalia. It was the first-ever recorded sighting of a black lynx in Canada.
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