THE RESPONSE OF PREDATORS TO AN ERUPTING BISON, BISON-BISON-ATHABASCAE, POPULATION

During the past 20 years Bison (Bison bison athabascae) numbers have i ncreased and Moose (Alces alces) numbers appear to have decreased with in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. In adjacent peripheral areas near Mi nk Lake Moose densities were twice that in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctua ry. Wolf (Canis lupus) activity was greater in the Mackienzie Bison Sa nctuary than in the Mink Lake area. Although Bison made up a larger pr oportion of the Wolf diet (based upon scat analysis) in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary than in the Mink Lake areas, Moose made up a significa ntly greater (P<0.001) proportion of the Wolf diet than expected given the availability of prey biomass in both the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuar y and Mink Lake areas. Given that Moose made up a similar proportion o f the diet in both areas, and that there was a two-fold difference in Moose densities between area, Wolf predation may be destabilizing and exacerbating the decline in Moose numbers.