Work needed to protect animals in Crowsnest Pass: study

Volunteers with a national conservation group have been watching and recording wildlife activity near a risky crossing in southern Alberta and say more needs to be done to protect animals.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has been working with the Miistakis Institute on a wildlife camera monitoring project in the Crowsnest Pass.

The strategy involved the installation of 37 remote cameras along Highway 3 in the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor.

The NCC says the region contains "the highest number of medium and large mammal species in North America."

"Twenty-one volunteers put in 333 volunteer hours managing the cameras and identifying species – including white-tailed deer, black bear, grizzly bear, wolf, cougar, moose, elk among others," the NCC said in a release.

One of the key findings, the NCC says, is that wildlife are actively crossing at the railway underpass and at the Crowsnest River Bridge.

That means there is "potential" to modify the crossing to improve safety for wildlife.

"The hope is these results will someday inform motor vehicle accident mitigation efforts in the area, to lower the risk of collisions for both people and wildlife," the NCC said.

Members of the Miistakis Institute also hope to use the situation to learn more about the animals in the region.

“One of the things we were trying to achieve is to understand is wildlife crossing Highway 3 using existing infrastructure, so culverts, the bridge underpass, railway underpass,” said director of conservation research Tracy Lee.

The group says wildlife often cross Highway 3, along with railway lines, to access food, water and for reproductive purposes.

The data collected so far is just the preliminary. The NCC says it will be using the cameras for the next three years.

"We will compare wildlife activity with wildlife-vehicle collision data and recommend road mitigation measures to help wildlife move safely across Highway 3," it said.

Now the group is using the data they've collected to reposition some cameras.

“After the first year, we can really see where we get more animals and where we might be problems,” said Emilie Brien, the natural area manager for the Crowsnest Watershed with the NCC.

“There are a few cameras I have some in areas where I know there are a lot of elk, but I didn't catch a lot of photos of elk, so that tells me that camera is probably not placed where it would be best.”

The report will highlight different solutions to help protect both wildlife and humans.

“Maybe it's fencing between structures they're currently using, or maybe it's a new underpass, for example, in an area they use to move across. We're hoping this research will inform that dialogue,” Lee said.

“The goal is to better understand how animals are moving in that wildlife corridor and to better inform our future decisions about how we manage development and wildlife,” Brien said.

The NCC says a total of 436,997 photos were taken throughout the first year, with 153,731 of those being of animals.