We built stochastic demographic models for local populations of moose and woodland caribou in northern British Columbia as part of a collaborative effort. In our study area, both species have historically been harvested by both First Nation (FN) and sport hunters. Currently, moose appear to be increasing while caribou appear to be declining. Despite the increase in moose, however, the prevalence of bulls in the local population is relatively low, creating challenges for the management of this resource. Traditionally, FN hunters tend to prefer bulls, which minimizes the impact of their harvest on population dynamics. Because they harvest ungulates as a subsistence resource, they will nevertheless take cows if bulls are scarce. Likewise, FN hunters tend to prefer moose, but they will take caribou if moose are scarce. Licensed sport hunting focuses exclusively on bulls of both species. We examined the interacting effects of FN hunter preferences and the level of sport harvest on the dynamics of both species.
Results/Conclusions
Planning for sustainable sport harvest using static data on past FN harvest levels underestimated the joint impact of FN and sport harvest compared to model runs incorporating FN hunter preference. Hunter preference models predicted that when high levels of sport hunting depleted the abundance of bull moose, FN harvest of cow moose and bull caribou diminished the productivity of the growing moose herd, compromised the ability of the moose herd to sustain bull harvest, and increased the extinction risk for caribou. Unless accounted for in management, licensed sport harvest levels can have unanticipated detrimental effects on population dynamics by altering the composition of the FN harvest.
