How to translate text using browser tools
1 September 2007 Assessment of the Sustainability of Wolverine Harvest in British Columbia, Canada
ERIC C. LOFROTH, PETER K. OTT
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Wolverines (Gulo gulo) are distributed across much of northern and western Canada and Alaska, USA, and they extend south into the mountainous western United States. Wolverines occur in most regions of British Columbia, Canada, with the highest population densities occurring in the interior mountainous areas. Wolverine populations in British Columbia have been primarily managed to provide a sustainable harvest for trappers and hunters. We used spatially based population estimates, population vital rate data, and spatially based harvest data to evaluate the sustainability of wolverine harvest (trapping and hunting) from 1985 to 2004. The median annual provincial wolverine harvest from 1985 to 2004 was 172 wolverines per year (𝑥̄ = 174.8), which was less than the median simulated estimate of provincial recruitment (195.9 wolverines/yr; 𝑥̄ = 209.7). Harvests in individual population units ranged from 0 to 280 over the 20-year period. Spatially, wolverine harvest was likely to have been unsustainable in 15 of the 71 population units with wolverines, and it was likely to have been sustainable in the remaining population units. Harvest in 5 of the other 56 population units was marginally sustainable and thus of potential management concern. To improve harvest management of wolverines in British Columbia, wildlife managers should focus on improved data collection and monitoring at a provincial scale, and they should work with trappers and hunters at regional scales to address issues specific to individual population units. Further research is required to improve the reliability of wolverine vital rate and population data.

ERIC C. LOFROTH and PETER K. OTT "Assessment of the Sustainability of Wolverine Harvest in British Columbia, Canada," Journal of Wildlife Management 71(7), 2193-2200, (1 September 2007). https://doi.org/10.2193/2007-095
Published: 1 September 2007
JOURNAL ARTICLE
8 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
British Columbia
Gulo gulo
Harvest management
hunting
trapping
wolverines
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top