Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
April 2011

The Gators and Bears of Spring
Managing Large and Potentially Dangerous Wildlife

By Amy Carroll

In Alaska, spring brings bears. And sometimes they are where they shouldn't be---in digging in dumpsters, eating dog food on your back porch, spreading your garbage all over your driveway, and even playing on your backyard swing set.

In Florida, spring brings alligators. They too are emerging from a dormant winter and looking for food and mates. Males, especially during the April mating season, move around a lot and account for most sightings.

Hungry bears and human foibles keep ...   Alligators and Bears ArticleContinued

The Effects of Snowshoe Hare Cycles
on Dall Sheep and Their Predators

By Laura McCarthy

Does the abundance or absence of snowshoe hares affect Dall sheep and their predators in Interior Alaska? The connection between hares and Dall sheep seems unlikely, but it's very real, and that connection is coyotes and golden eagles, for the most part.

Wildlife biologist Steve Arthur has been monitoring Dall sheep in the central Alaska Range since 1999. Arthur's research looks at how Dall sheep and their predators are affected by naturally occurring snowshoe hare population cycles.

His ...   Hares and Dall Sheep ArticleContinued

Sablefish wanderings focus of tag study

By Laine Welch

Sablefish wanderings are the focus of a new tagging study in Prince William Sound.

More than 1,200 sablefish in Prince William Sound are adorned with bright red tags as part of a three-year study aimed at learning if the fish are homebodies, or where they roam.

"How far do sablefish that are tagged in Prince William Sound go,” asked Ken Goldman, the tag team leader at the Fish and Game office in Homer. “From data from four to 14 years ago we had 400 or so tagged fish and ...   Sablefish Tagged ArticleContinued