StettlerLocal.com April 19, 2023 at 7:32 pm
If you think you're seeing changes in the wildlife of Stettler County, you're not far wrong.
So says Scott Stevens, a senior wildlife biologist with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas who's keeping tabs on local wildlife.
"In general, moose populations in the Stettler area are fairly stable," says Stevens, "but may be experiencing a modest annual increase despite increases in antlered and antlerless tags for resident hunters."
Part of Stettler County falls within the Sullivan Wildlife Management Unit 166 (WMU 166), an area that covers 4,206 square kilometres.
Aerial surveys of wildlife population were done in 2014, and again in 2021. Researchers studied mule deer, white-tailed deer, and moose "to assess the status of ungulate populations in WMU 166 by determining estimates for abundance, density and age-sex composition."
Stevens, in response to emailed questions from StettlerLocal.com, notes an interesting shift in deer population.
"It was determined that in WMU 166 mule deer abundance increased, while white-tailed deer abundance decreased," he says. "However, in the adjacent WMU 208 to the west, mule deer abundance declined, but white-tailed deer abundance appeared stable between 2014 and 2021."
Biologists have been watching bird populations, too. Stevens noted changes in the migratory patterns of Canada geese in Special Areas to the south and east of Stettler are "likely a function of dry summer and limited staging areas."
There weren't any reported changes in swan migrations last year. Stevens says there "continues to be good numbers in the eastern part of the province on the central flyway."
Also, says Stevens, populations of sharp-tailed grouse appear to be increasing.
"Based on reports from operators on the landscape and aerial ungulate surveys in 2021," he says, "sharp-tailed grouse populations appeared to have rebounded in the Sullivan Lake and Hanna areas from harsh winters in 2011-2016, at least prior to this winter."
The Aerial Wildlife Survey Report can be found HERE.
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