Metro Vancouver wildlife camera program paints a stunning picture (PHOTOS)
Evidence of certain animals in Metro Vancouver watersheds has now been proven by a stunning new wildlife camera program.
Metro Vancouver set up some cameras in the Seymour and Coquitlam Watersheds and collected some fantastic images of BC’s most beautiful and rare creatures.
The program revealed the presence of both Roosevelt elk and grey wolves in these local watersheds. However, before the camera program, the evidence of these beings was limited and largely anecdotal, according to a Metro Vancouver spokesperson.
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The discoveries and photos taken by the camera program serve an important function beyond just being amazing to look at.
Metro Vancouver says that many species of wildlife that were native and plentiful in the region before European contact have seen their numbers decline dramatically over the past 150 years.
Elk species were among North America’s most widely distributed hooved mammals, but hunting and land-clearing operations caused their populations to drop dramatically.
“By 1900, Roosevelt elk, the local subspecies, was extirpated from the south coast.”
Those trends have been reversing due to conservation efforts and changing attitudes over the past few decades.
“Today, translocation efforts by the Provincial Government in the Squamish and Indian Arm valleys have allowed Roosevelt elk and Grey wolves to re-establish populations in portions of their historic range and migrate through the northern edges of the protected GVWD water supply areas.”
The cameras began being set up in 2017 to understand what animals were using the protected landscapes.
“Species commonly seen and caught on camera have included black-tailed deer, black bear, bobcat, coyote and cougar. Prior to the camera program, evidence of elk and wolves in the watersheds was limited and largely anecdotal. Now, thanks to the wildlife camera program, presence of both Roosevelt elk and Grey wolves have been confirmed in both the Seymour and Coquitlam Watersheds.”