The Program:
HOW KBD's HELP WILDLIFERelocation and Euthanasia
Traditionally, within urban/suburban and rural interface areas occupied by humans, management of bear and cougar conflicts has been limited to relocation or euthanasia of conflict animals. Relocation of bear and cougar has application in wildlife management, but in many cases only puts the animal at further risk since; (1) most other habitats in Washington are already occupied, which could lead to intra-species strife (2) the animal is not familiar with the habitat it is relocated into, thus making it difficult to acquire food resources, and, (3) most large carnivores move long distances after relocation, increasing the risk of being killed on roadways or being involved in another conflict situation, further exacerbating the problem. Typically, relocation and euthanasia treat the symptoms, not the root cause of these behavior problems. In some instances, when circumstances are appropriate, hunting may be used to address these problems. However, more recently, general public opinion has shifted toward stronger support for predators and a less support for these traditional predator control methods. In a recent public opinion survey in Washington, the vast majority of the public surveyed supported creative and new methodology to address conflict problems . To help maintain public support for traditional control methods, management agencies need to ensure they demonstrate to the public a commitment that strives for new and innovative control approaches, combined with traditional approaches and hunting when appropriate.
Public Safety (a primary factor in the creation of the bear/cougar positions)
Often, Agency biologists respond to residences from public calls on bear and cougar sightings with limited tools. Most notably, the ability to track and locate the animal, determine if an animal is in the immediate area, the direction of travel, locate potential prey killed by these animals, and the ability to confirm presence or absence to the reporting party and assure local residences it is safe. The unpredictable nature and odd and unusual hours of these events most often make it logistically difficult to contact local hound handlers for assistance. Typically, when we do contact a hound handler, it is hours before they can arrive and it costs, on average, $100 per call-out resulting in thousands of dollars spent per year. The pilot project, with the use of the KBD, will be designed to help address these concerns in eastern and western Washington. It has already been demonstrated in western WA that the public has extreme confidence in the ability of a KBD to detect the presence of a bear or cougar, lending increased credibility to the Department.
As proven in western Washington, the KBD's have been tremendous ambassadors for Agencies, demonstrating to the public a commitment to resolve bear and cougar conflicts with humans in a proactive manner. This improves public credibility and acceptance when wildlife officials encounter those circumstances that warrant the use of traditional techniques of relocation, euthanasia, and hunting to resolve conflicts.
Capture Work
Capture work is an integral component of our responsibilities and duties. Physical capture for monitoring provides WDFW with a wealth of information from survival, reproduction, and population estimation data. With their superb tracking and treeing abilities, the KBD can improve our ability to address these needs in a safe and efficient manner, without contracting with hound handlers. The KBD can also improve our flexibility to conduct these activates because it is available 24 hours a day, allowing us to respond at a moments notice to capture, recapture, or to locate an animal based on track or sign. The agency has never had the opportunity to use dogs (KBD's) for this purpose without the total reliance on outside sources. We feel this will add a high degree of professionalism to the agency and the biologist on the ground.