The term sa国际传媒榙irty jobsa国际传媒� doesnsa国际传媒檛 quite do this one justice.
The Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is hoping to transform some of the West Coastsa国际传媒檚 least squeamish locals into sa国际传媒榩oop fairiessa国际传媒� to help monitor wolves on the West Coast.
Each valiant sa国际传媒榩oop fairysa国际传媒� will be taught tracking techniques as well as to identify wolf scat and differentiate it from other predatorssa国际传媒� feces as part of the uniquely hands-on citizen science project, according to Todd Windle, a resource management officer with the Park Reserve.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a great way to get outside and learn more about natural history while contributing to coexistence with wolves and a larger understanding collectively,sa国际传媒� Windle told the Westerly News. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a pretty cool way to get involved in conservation in your area.sa国际传媒�
The Poop Fairy Program is part of the Park Reservesa国际传媒檚 ongoing multi-year Wild About Wolves project designed to increase coexistence and decrease conflicts between humans and wolves both inside and outside the Park Reservesa国际传媒檚 borders.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e working across boundaries just like the wolves do,sa国际传媒� he said.
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Interested sa国际传媒榩oop fairiessa国际传媒� must be able to commit to at least one poo hunt per month for one year and they cautioned volunteers not to expect goldmines each time they search.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檇 probably be lucky for the average volunteer to pick up one or two in a month realistically,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淥nce you kind of start looking and get a little bit more of a trained eye you can detect them a little bit more obviously, but itsa国际传媒檚 not something thatsa国际传媒檚 going to be a huge volume thatsa国际传媒檚 for sure.sa国际传媒�
He added that anyone familiar with walking a dog, will be pleasantly surprised by what they pick up.
sa国际传媒淲ild carnivore scat is actually less smelly and less disgusting than processed dog food for sure,sa国际传媒� he said.
Windle said people who sign up will be assigned to areas they already enjoy visiting.
sa国际传媒淥bviously there are lots of people that are out and about enjoying the outdoors here whether its on beaches or trails or old logging roads. So, wesa国际传媒檙e just asking for a little bit of help from people while theysa国际传媒檙e out there,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淚t would be wonderful to get a nice little group of local volunteers and, I think, for the people that are going to be interested in it, theysa国际传媒檙e going to be really interested in it, as weird as that sounds. And then, for other people itsa国际传媒檚 clearly going to just not be their cup of tea.sa国际传媒�
He said the wolf poop collected will be sent to a lab where it will be mined for a myriad of valuable information like diet, kinship and health.
sa国际传媒淵ou can actually get a lot of information from scat,sa国际传媒� he said.
He said poop fairies will be trained to use GPS devices to map out where wolf feces are being found and DNA will be compared to find out how wolves within packs are related to each other as well as neighbouring packs.
Learning individual diets will also help researchers understand whether different packs are focusing on different prey species while also gaining a better understanding of what wolves are hunting for at different times of year.
That could help the Park Reserve focus its management on areas where wolves are likely to be finding those prey species to better help humans avoid them.
Poo collectors will also be asked to leave some remains of the feces behind, because wolves are communicating with scent marking.
sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 want to completely remove the whole sample because itsa国际传媒檚 also how theysa国际传媒檙e communicating with each other.sa国际传媒�
Wolves were biologically extricated from Vancouver Island in the 1960sa国际传媒檚 with occasional sightings being reported once every few years through the 1970sa国际传媒檚 and 1980sa国际传媒檚.
sa国际传媒淏asically 21 years ago now, they kind of showed up and started establishing packs and territories again,sa国际传媒� Windle explained. sa国际传媒淎s thatsa国际传媒檚 happened, so has an increase in conflicts between people and wolves.sa国际传媒�
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He said improving the West Coastsa国际传媒檚 ability to coexist with its wolf population is vital because wolves are a keystone species that heavily impact their environment and added that the Park Reserve is mandated to protect the areasa国际传媒檚 ecological integrity and biodiversity.
sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e also a really important species spiritually and culturally to the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations that we share the land with,sa国际传媒� he said.
Anyone interested in becoming a poop fairy is encouraged to contact Windle at 250-726-7165 ext. 227 or Todd.Windle@canada.ca.
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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