Wildlife
Plus: the key to a shrew’s heart, dino fossil mother lode discovered, and the toxic hitchhikers impacting the Arctic
Earlier this year, the Alberta government announced a plan for targeted hunts for specific grizzly bears and elk that have become ‘problematic.’ Scheduled to start this fall, about 7,000 Albertans have applied for a spot on the hunts — what the provincial government is calling a wildlife management tool. So far, 30 Albertans have been selected, 10 each from the province’s north, south and central regions.
According to Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, those selected from a region’s responder list when a problem wildlife response situation arises will “have a finite area, a finite amount of time to pursue that bear and they’ll have to be after a specific animal.” However, wildlife specialists such as Dan LeGrandeur, former Fish and Wildlife officer and owner of human-wildlife conflict training company Bear Scare Ltd., believe wildlife response work should be left to trained professionals who “have the expertise, have the tools to do the job properly,” and that allowing members of the public to respond may increase the chances of someone being injured. Meanwhile, conservationists such as Alberta Wilderness Association’s Ruiping Luo believe “there doesn’t seem to be a scientific justification for a grizzly hunt” and that public education would be more effective.
The shrew’s resting heart rate can reach up to 17 beats per second, equivalent to about 1,020 beats per minute, far higher than a human’s resting heart rate of between 60 to 100 beats per minute. Until now, how they achieve this has remained unknown. But a new study, published in the journal Science, has shed light on the mystery.
An international team of researchers, including University of Manitoba professor Kevin Campbell, found that a crucial part of cardiac troponin I, the heart protein that regulates heart relaxation time, has been lost through evolution in shrews and closely related moles. This is akin to “permanently removing the brakes” on heart relaxation, according to study lead author William Joyce.
The researchers aim to study the process further and hope to find ways to apply their findings to biomedical research.
Paleontologists led by Trebek Initiative grantee Victoria Arbour have uncovered scores of fossils in the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park in northern B.C., all but one of which comes from a dinosaur previously unknown to that area. The area is about 200 kilometres south of the Yukon border, and the terrain is so rough that the team had to be flown in by helicopter. It was the team’s third visit to the area, and Arbour, curator of paleontology at the Royal B.C. Museum, says this time they hit the “mother lode of fossils.”
“We came back with over 90 dinosaur fossil bones, which we’re super excited about because this is a relatively unexplored place for fossils,” says Arbour.
The fossils are all about 66 to 68 million years old. Of particular interest is a group of bones that all appear to belong to one dinosaur’s foot or leg.
“We’re really excited to figure out what that could be,” says Arbour. “Is it a juvenile of a Tyrannosaur? Is it a small meat eater like a raptor dinosaur or other little meat eaters like that?”
Researchers at McGill University has found that migrating black-legged kittiwakes and other migrating seabirds are bringing toxic “forever” chemicals from southern latitudes to the Arctic
Between March and May each year, 15 million black-legged kittiwakes gather from across the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to nest and breed on rocky Arctic cliffs — some making the journey from as far as Florida or North Africa.
The chemicals are known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and are usually picked up in more polluted southern waters.
The study was led by researcher Don-Jean Léandri-Breton, who hopes his research illustrates how migratory species geographically connect different environments — for better or worse. “If you just look into one part of their life, you don’t have the full picture,” he says. “What they do in one season can affect the next.”
People & Culture
The ultimate goal of vaquero horsemanship is to produce a “finished” horse: an exceptionally responsive animal that is a true partner to its rider
Wildlife
Salmon runs are failing and grizzlies seem to be on the move in the islands between mainland B.C. and northern Vancouver Island. What’s going on in the Broughton Archipelago?
Wildlife
In the Hudson Bay Lowlands, polar bears have reigned supreme. Increased sightings of a new predator have everyone on high alert.
Wildlife
Humans and bears are sharing more landscapes now than ever before. As we continue to invade their world, will we be able to coexist?