Ungulate

As the traditional group of "game" species, wild ungulates have long been a primary focus for wildlife managers and researchers. Development of survey techniques for these species dates back to the beginning of modern wildlife management, and a tremendous volume of literature has been produced on the subject in the last century. From a techniques standpoint, survey methods for ungulates have evolved into two broad categories: aerial methods and ground-based methods. The purpose of this manual is to provide wildlife biologists in British Columbia with a guide for selecting and using the most appropriate aerial based survey techniques. The species considered here are the native ungulates that occur in British Columbia: bison (Bison bison), mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis, Ovis dalli), moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus elaphus), mule and black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and caribou (Rangifer tarandus).

Inventory information is essential for informed management and effective conservation of ungulates. The inventory protocols defined here involve the use of aircraft, and range from reconnaissance (presence/not detected (possible)) surveys to locate and delineate populations, through the gathering of information on population numbers, and age and sex composition. Inventories may be used to survey populations repeatedly to show trends over time (relative or absolute abundance) or gain detailed information on numbers or density at one point in time (absolute abundance). Elk, moose, caribou, mountain sheep, mountain goat, and bison can be assessed by well designed aerial surveys. Mule and white-tailed deer can be successfully inventoried only in certain habitats or under certain conditions. Black-tailed deer, which occupy dense coastal habitats, can generally not be inventoried adequately by aerial surveys.

Several comprehensive aerial ungulate survey manuals exist for specific techniques and species, e.g., Norton-Griffith (1978), Oswald (1982), Gasaway et al. (1986) and Unsworth et al. (1994). It is not our intention to re-state those documents, but only to indicate where their use is appropriate in British Columbia. However, the reader is encouraged to become familiar with these documents, as well as the other literature cited.

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Published by the Resources Inventory Committee