Conflict and Coexistence with Mountain Goats in a Protected Alpine Landscape

list (in alphabetical order) NILS ANDERSON1: Developing a size-at-age relationship from hunter harvested bighorn sheep to support management relevant population models ABSTRACT: Ram harvest is commonly constrained by a minimum size restriction to target mature males (e.g. 4/5 curl in Alberta). However, Alberta has lacked robust, data-driven tools to describe how rams grow to achieve this size, and therefore become legal for harvest. From a dataset of hunter harvested rams we used the age-specific cumulative length and the diameter of the circle described by the horn to back-cast the angular size-class of each sheep in each year of its life. The resulting size-at-age relationship can be used to distribute harvest across cohorts in an age-structured simulation model (e.g. assessing relative consequences of alternate management strategies) or to advance post-season survey results to determine pre-season availability of legal rams (e.g. setting tag numbers for a limited entry hunt). Ram harvest is commonly constrained by a minimum size restriction to target mature males (e.g. 4/5 curl in Alberta). However, Alberta has lacked robust, data-driven tools to describe how rams grow to achieve this size, and therefore become legal for harvest. From a dataset of hunter harvested rams we used the age-specific cumulative length and the diameter of the circle described by the horn to back-cast the angular size-class of each sheep in each year of its life. The resulting size-at-age relationship can be used to distribute harvest across cohorts in an age-structured simulation model (e.g. assessing relative consequences of alternate management strategies) or to advance post-season survey results to determine pre-season availability of legal rams (e.g. setting tag numbers for a limited entry hunt). 1 Alberta Environment and Parks, Wildlife Management, Grande Prairie. Laura Balyx1 : Conflict and Coexistence with Mountain Goats in a Protected Alpine Landscape Of the North American ungulates, mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are among the most sensitive to human disturbance. In British Columbia, one vulnerable population is found in Cathedral Provincial Park (CPP), where, mountain goats are subject to year-round disturbance from human recreation and helicopters. This dynamic has led to a number of mountain goat management issues, including, habituation and human-mountain goat conflict. Past research has documented altered foraging behaviour, movement patterns, and population dynamics in mountain goat populations affected by anthropogenic disturbance; however, the knowledge needed to create adequate management is often siteand context-specific. The goal of my research is to better understand the spatial ecology of human-mountain goat interactions within CPP. I will use GPS location data from 10 collared mountain goats to: 1) quantify mountain goat spatial ecology and map seasonal habitat use; 2) determine how helicopter use influences mountain goat movements and habitat use; 3) create a multispecies analysis template for future work in areas where human-ungulate conflict exists. The results of this study will improve mountain goat management within CPP – making it safer for both humans and wildlife – through the development of best management practices for recreation in sensitive mountain goat habitat. 1The University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna BC V1V 1V7, CANADA TOM BESSER1 Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in bighorn sheep epizootic pneumonia: Updating the conceptual model