Why Manage Big Game?

There are approximately 120,000 moose on the Island of Newfoundland (post hunt). Labrador is home to the world's largest migratory caribou herd, the George River herd, currently estimated at 700,000 animals. More than 80,000 woodland caribou are distributed in several different herds across the Island. Five to six thousand black bear roam the forests and tundra of Newfoundland and Labrador. Sharing this wild paradise with these big animals are 600,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, who have a long-standing tradition of big game hunting.

Hunting more animals than a population can sustain will cause a population decline and possible local extinction of a species. On the other hand, allowing a population to grow without regulation through a legal harvest can also cause problems. Large numbers of animals consume a large amount of food; if populations grow faster than their food sources, the habitat degrades, and can no longer sustain the animals within it. The game population crashes. Hunting in the fall helps to reduce population numbers before the winter, when food supplies are at their lowest. In a sense, wildlife management helps to integrate us into the natural ecosystem in such a way that both humans and wildlife can persist together for the long term.

It is the job of the IWildlife Division to manage big game populations so that they persist indefinitely. We do this by determining the maximum number of moose, caribou and black bear that can be safely harvested each year to prevent a population decline, while at the same time making sure that populations are being kept at levels that will not degrade the habitat and possibly lead to a population collapse.

Determining Population Sizes and Setting License Quotas

To calculate how many moose or caribou can be harvested in an MMA, the Wildlife Division must first determine how many animals are present. This is done through aerial surveys, which provide estimates of the number of bulls, cows, and calves within a Management Area. This also reveals how many young are being produced and are surviving to adulthood; this is called the recruitment rate. If we want the population to remain stable, license quotas are set so that the harvest, combined with naturally occurring death (mortality), is roughly equal to the recruitment rate. If we want the population to increase, recruitment must exceed mortality, so the license quota is lowered; if we want the population to decrease, the quota is raised. Quotas are adjusted so that target populations will be achieved over a ten-year period.

Setting Target Population Sizes - Importance of Habitat

Knowing which direction a population should be going - increasing, decreasing, or stable - is a key factor in big game management. This is particularly true for moose, which are known to over-exploit their habitat when populations are high. This may result in drastic population declines. Recovery from these declines occurs only after the habitat regenerates, after a long period of time. The Wildlife Division uses forest inventory data to determine the amount of habitat suitable for moose within each MMA. We aim for a base target density of two moose per square kilometer of forested area. Other considerations, such as the type of forest, and the presence of human settlements, roads, and farms, alter the target densities for moose within each MMA.

In the case of caribou, which feed on lichens and other small plants, research is being done to establish target densities and sizes for each of Newfoundland's caribou herds based on the amount of available habitat on their ranges. Currently, we aim to keep caribou populations stable by setting quotas so that mortality is equal to recruitment.

Evaluating Management Success - License Returns

The Wildlife Division uses hunter trend data to determine whether big game populations within each Management Area are increasing or decreasing in response to our harvest strategy. The information hunters provide on their license returns (along with the jawbone in the case of moose) tells us whether hunter success, the number of animals seen, and the days hunted are going up or down, and whether the age and sex structure of the population is changing. This input from the hunting public is extremely valuable in guiding our efforts to manage moose, caribou and black bear in Newfoundland and Labrador. License return data from the previous year are used as a guide for adjusting each year’s quota allocations. Without these data, we would not know if the quotas we set are helping us to achieve our target population goals. Poaching big game animals, or failing to submit license returns, impedes our ability to evaluate our hunting strategy and jeopardizes the long-term persistence of big game populations.

End Result - Big Game Management Plan

Aerial survey data, hunter trend information, letters from the public, and jawbone data all contribute to the formulation of the quota for moose and caribou each year. These quotas are set out in the annual Big Game Management Plan. In this Plan, concerns forwarded by Conservation Officers, hunters, and the public are addressed. Boundary changes, quota allocations, and animal-human conflict issues are all considered, and appropriate changes are recommended. When the Plan is approved by the Minister, the annual Application Guide and Hunting Guide are produced for distribution to the public, and the cycle starts again. With the cooperation of the hunting community, the legal harvest can be an effective tool for ensuring that our ecosystem remains intact, and that Newfoundland’s natural resources remain for a long time to come.