Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
May 2004

Owl Research in Alaska’s Boreal Forest

It was so exciting it practically eclipsed the 10 or more great horned owls I heard bellowing throughout the forest that night. I could hardly believe my ears as the sustained, aggressive trill of a boreal owl penetrated the crisp night air. After weeks of listening I finally heard a boreal owl.

I've heard plenty of boreal owls call and not gotten that excited, but this was research, and for that you need data. If I carried a cell phone I would have called Jack Whitman immediately. I was ...   Owl Research ArticleContinued

Managing Moose in the Sub-Arctic

Most of us would agree that moose meat in the freezer is a good thing. But if everyone could shoot a moose - any moose - wherever and whenever they wanted, the moose population would be hit pretty hard.

This wasn't always the case - but guns, motorboats, four-wheelers, and snowmachines have made it easier for more people to harvest moose, and our human population keeps growing.

This is where game management comes in. Bag limits, seasons and other regulations are all tools wildlife ...   Managing Moose ArticleContinued

Lessons from a Juneau Bear

"I had no idea that bears were so smart," said Juneau middle school student Eli Olson.

Olson was looking over some remarkable information, data that he and his class had helped gather and interpret - the day-to-day activities of a black bear over a six-week period. This school year, Olson and his sixth-grade class have teamed up with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to study the movements of a radio-collared black bear in the Juneau area.

Juneau has been plagued ...   Lessons from a Bear ArticleContinued

Sterilized Wolves Seem to Live Longer in the Wild

The fact that the sterilized pairs have managed to maintain their traditional territories, even on a slightly smaller scale, doesn't surprise McNay.

"That's what wolves do, defend territories," he said. "They will defend that territory even if they don't have any current pups. They're just continuing to behave as they would if they hadn't been sterilized."

It remains to be seen what will happen when all the sterilized wolves die off, which they will probably ...   Sterilized Wolves ArticleContinued

Taxidermists' Tips for Better Trophies

Taxidermist Kim Barter still remembers the caribou head.

The caribou was taken just a few days into an extended hunt, hundreds of miles from Anchorage. The hunter saved the head, envisioning an attractive wall mount that would serve as a lasting reminder of a memorable hunt and a tribute to a respected game animal. Unfortunately, he neglected to skin, salt, refrigerate, freeze or preserve his prize. A week and a half later, when he visited the Anchorage taxidermist, his "trophy" ...   Taxidermy Tips ArticleContinued