Wildlife

Until recently, the grizzlies here had good reason to be afraid of people — this vast tract of pristine rainforest encompassing most of the western coast of Canada and the islands just off it was prime grizzly hunting territory. But as of the end of November 2017, the British Columbia provincial government has banned grizzly hunting in the area. Now, shooting bears with cameras is the only kind of grizzly “hunting” allowed.

Crabbers and dive fishermen returned to Alaska’s Board of Fish this month seeking changes to commercial fishing regulations in Southeast Alaska for crab and other shellfish impacted by a growing population of sea otters in the region.

Buffers prohibiting development as close as 50 feet from an eagles nests during nesting season have been scrapped by the Juneau Assembly. City planners argued that a shortage of qualified federal biologists had made the law too hard to effectively enforce.

Pieces of antlers and horns are flying off shelves, sold as a healthy, all-natural chew snack for dogs. But some hunters say the new market is having unintended consequences, as antlers are stolen to meet demand.

“Currently we don’t have any studies specifically looking at what factors are affecting those demographics,” said Jason Caikoski, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

A giant whale eye spent decades on a strange journey before it finally arrived at an animal eyeball lab and gave the folks there the “best Christmas ever.”

Ravens were everywhere during the Bethel Christmas bird count this month. Some species showed up in smaller numbers than in the past, but there were a couple birds not usually seen in winter. 

Now that Congress has OK’d oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain, opponents are preparing for the next phase in their decades-long struggle to protect the environmentally sensitive area.

Alaska’s members of Congress celebrated their success Wednesday in opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The measure passed in the Republican tax bill with a final vote in the House.

A similar effort stalled in 2012 following public outcry. City staff say the problem now is there aren’t enough federal biologists to map eagles’ nests, so enforcement is inconsistent.