Monitoring - Wildlife

Wildlife Cards

Rationale

Young Arctic hare. © Parks Canada

Recording incidental wildlife observations is an inexpensive method of collecting information about wildlife populations. Observations made in Aulavik, Ivvavik and Tuktut Nogait national parks, and surrounding areas, are recorded on wildlife cards and the information is stored in a computer database. Special attention is paid to observations of bears and wolves, as there are long records of observations for both species and because they are good indicators of environmental health.

Objectives

• To collect basic information (presence, distribution, relative abundance) about wildlife populations in Aulavik, Ivvavik and Tuktut Nogait national parks and surrounding regions.

Methods and Information Collected

• Parks Canada staff and park visitors record incidental observations of wildlife on wildlife cards.
• Information collected includes: date and time of observation, name of observer, species observed, number of individuals seen, location of observation, elevation, aspect, age, sex of animal, evidence of reproduction, habitat, weather and remarks.
• Information from the wildlife cards is entered into a database.
• Summaries and maps of incidental observations are produced.

Results

• There are currently 1694 observations in the wildlife cards database.
• Summaries and maps of wildlife observations can be produced as required.

Years of Data

• 1986-ongoing

Funding

• Parks Canada

Data Location

• Parks Canada, Inuvik

Observations of wolverine in Tuktut Nogait National Park.

 

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