Fall Sex/Age Composition, Genetic Screening and Collaring of Northern andSouthern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herds, 1999

摘要

For the Northern Alaska Peninsula caribou hear (NAPCH), ratios of bulls andcalves: 100 cows were 40 and 21 (n=2,567), respectively for the Southern Alaska Peninsula caribou hear (SAPCH), these ratios were 51bulls and 25 calves per 100 cows, (n=1,049), respectively, within Game Management Unit (GMU) 9D and 81 bulls and 46 calves per 100 cows (n=129) on Unimak island (GMU 10). Although the bull:cow ratios increased in both the NAPCH and SAPCH, the NAPCH had fewer 'large' bulls resulted from recent differences in hunting pressure between the herds. For the Second consecutive year, the SAPCH has been more productive than the NAPCH. We captured 11 calves in the NAPCH and collared 10 with standard VHF radio collars. We also redeployed 1 satellite collar on a mature female on the border between GMUs 9E and 9D to further evaluate if these animals intermingle, i.e. whether the 2 herds are distinct. We capture 12 calves on Unimak Island and fitted 1 with a standard radiocollar. We took Weights, measurements and blood for the capture animals to evaluate body condition and genetic relationships among caribou from these 3 areas.