Crowsnest Pass wildlife camera-monitoring project finishes first year

Last year, the Nature Conservancy of Canada started a wildlife camera monitoring project called Linking Landscapes. They’ve collected nearly 450,000 wildlife images so far.

Last year, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (N.C.C.) started a wildlife camera monitoring project called Linking Landscapes.

Since then, 21 volunteers have helped to install and monitor 37 remote cameras in the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor. They’ve collected nearly 450,000 wildlife images so far.

“We’re looking at the different animals that are present there, but also their distribution and how they are moving out throughout the landscape,” said Sean Feagan with the N.C.C.

Driving through Crowsnest Pass, there are many opportunities to view wildlife but close encounters can lead to deadly consequences for animals, especially on stretches of highway prone to vehicle-wildlife collisions.

“That’s a massive problem not just for wildlife but also for people. It’s dangerous, it causes expensive damage and it’s bad for wildlife,” said Feagan.

The N.C.C. has partnered with the Miistakis Institute and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute on the project, using high-tech wildlife cameras to collect data.

“There’s such diversity in the past, and the number three bisects at all and they can’t cross, and so many die,” said Monica Zyla, a volunteer with the study.

Within this stretch of Highway 3 are two large bridges and three small culverts. The project has found animals can use these areas to avoid highway traffic and cross to the other side, indicating the potential to modify these structures to improve safe wildlife movement.