IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Human-wildlife coexistence - Recommendations for Improving Human-Wildlife Coexistence in the Bow Valley | |
| 2018 Full Book | |
The Bow Valley is an increasingly desirable destination for people to visit, live and recreate. This is in part due to its proximity to Calgary, as well as its reputation as a world class tourist destination. Both people and wildlife concentrate their movements along the valley bottoms, which can lead to human-wildlife occurrences, displacement of wildlife from important habitat, and human-caused mortality. Managers in the Bow Valley have taken innovative approaches to improve human-wildlife coexistence through a variety of actions, including improved garbage management, reductions of human use in corridors, highway mitigations, and pro-active education. However, the movements and management of a young female grizzly bear (GB148) in 2017 highlighted challenges faced by agencies within the Bow Valley. In 2017, the Bow Valley Human-Wildlife Coexistence Roundtable tasked a Human-Wildlife Coexistence Technical Working Group to address four objectives: Identify current state of human-wildlife coexistence within the Bow Valley by summarizing historical data, current trends, and management tools and practices being used throughout the Bow Valley; Identify potential research opportunities to fill knowledge gaps pertaining to human-wildlife coexistence; Develop proactive measures to reduce the probability of negative human-wildlife interactions in the Bow Valley; and Examine how agencies manage specific incidents of human-wildlife occurrences and achieve cooperation; implement coordination to create consistency where possible; and ensure transparent communication and management. The Human-Wildlife Coexistence Technical Working Group worked over six months to address these objectives. The group identified six key areas for improving human-wildlife coexistence in the Bow Valley. Within these 6 key issues, the group developed 28 recommendations to improve human-wildlife coexistence. Key strategies for improving coexistence were the following: exclude wildlife from developed areas; improve habitat security in wildlife corridors; reduce human-caused mortality; remove natural and unnatural attractants in developed areas; enhance habitat away from developed areas; increase capacity for enforcement; improve interagency collaboration; and improve communications. Implementation of the recommendations will require additional resources and public consultation. |
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(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union) |