Latest news with #UniversityOfSaskatchewan
CTV News
4 days ago
- Science
- CTV News
YXE Underground Podcast: Enhancing therapy education
Watch Eric Anderson's podcast shines a light on two women developing master's programs at the University of Saskatchewan
CBC
5 days ago
- Science
- CBC
Sask. study finds apparent increase in urban moose excursions
Social Sharing A three-year study has revealed an apparent increase in moose activity around Saskatoon, according to researchers from the University of Saskatchewan. Kaitlyn Harris is a PhD student focused on wildlife in urban environments. She was inspired by conversations she was having about moose sightings seeming more frequently in Prairie cities. "Specifically there was that incident a couple of years ago, that really scary incident where that moose crashed into that school," she said. "Thankfully there was no one harmed. The moose wasn't harmed, no one was harmed." Moose crashes through window of Sylvia Fedoruk School in Saskatoon That led her and fellow researcher Ryan Brook to look into the topic. Harris and Brook started thinking of ways they could predict moose movements and mitigate these incidents. They set up cameras around Saskatoon and were able to observe increased moose activity near urban areas, which moose had previously avoided. "All of our data came from this network of trail cameras that we have set up distributed throughout the city of Saskatoon," said Harris. "We had 30 that we set out." Brook, a professor in the department of animal and poultry science at the U of S, noted that 50 to 60 years ago, moose sightings in southern Saskatchewan were uncommon. He was previously involved in moose research 10 years ago. That study included GPS tracking of moose between Regina and Saskatoon. "Moose don't belong in these [urban] areas," he said. "I remember when I first moved here, we're driving to Regina and I made my wife pull over because I had to take a picture of a moose crossing sign thinking, 'what fool put this sign up? My friends are going to get a kick out of it,' until we passed five more and realized this is moose habitat." Brook said it's becoming more common to see a moose in urban areas like Regina and Saskatoon. "There was one swimming around how many years ago was in Lake Wascana for multiple days in the summer," he said. "Then this moose broke through a glass window and came into a school. This is pretty serious stuff." WATCH | Are more moose coming into Sask. cities? Are more moose coming into Sask. cities? 6 hours ago Duration 3:43 A moose on the loose in Saskatoon in 2021 inspired researchers at the University of Saskatchewan to see if more of the animals are coming into cities. Ryan Brook talked to The Morning Edition about why the subject excites him and whether it's becoming more common. Brook said that while many people love seeing wildlife, some animals just aren't suited for city living. Moose — along with black bears, wild pigs and cougars — can pose a safety risk. The only way to ensure everyone's safety is to remove the animals safely to habitats they are more accustomed to. Brook said his research is trying to figure out hotspots for these animals. After putting up the cameras, they had some interesting findings. "We actually have over 200 photos of moose showing up in these photos," he said. "We had 249 photos and it was across 12 cameras out of 29.… We have some, of course, on the very periphery of the city of Saskatoon, and some much more in the inner city." He said each year sees an increase in the month of July, just after moose breeding season. "What happens is females, right before they give birth, any calves they have from previous years, they'll boot them away and say 'you're out on your own junior, take off. I'm going to have my calf by myself and that's that,'" he said. Those calves who have been following their mom around are left to wander on their own and sometimes end up wandering into cities and getting into trouble, Brook said. He said the best thing to do if you spot a moose in an urban area is to keep your distance, because they are aggressive and will attack people. "The only real option to manage them in cities is for the province to dart them and take them somewhere out in the wild and move them far out of the city," he said. "They've been doing that really successfully for a long time."
CBC
17-06-2025
- Science
- CBC
Flourish or flounder: How wildfires affect Boreal forest wildlife
There's an entire cycle of life that helps some wildlife thrive when the boreal forest burns, but experts say climate change and human activity have led to larger, more intense wildfires, exacerbating the negative effects on some species. While it's too early to know exactly how one of the worst wildfire seasons in Saskatchewan history is affecting wildlife, research shows some species have evolved over millennia to take advantage of forest fire cycles. "It's almost essential, particularly in the boreal forest, to have some degree of fire on the landscape, because it is important to create that sort of regenerative habitat for species that depend on it," said Jean-Michele DeVink, an environmental consultant and adjunct professor in the school of environment sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. "The challenge, of course, is that for other species that do require more mature forest, the extent of fires that we're seeing throughout the boreal forest is a bit of a problem." Some birds find feasts in a forest fire's aftermath. Certain types of beetles seek out fires because trees are more susceptible to infestation, and birds such as the black-backed woodpecker soon follow to feed on the larvae, DeVink said. Some mammals benefit because "the influx of nutrients into the soil after a fire and the regeneration of grass and young vegetation creates a lot of forage and a lot of food for herbivores like rabbits and a lot of the ungulates: the deer, the moose and the elk," DeVink said. Large animals like bears and deer are usually able to flee active fires, but newborns are particularly vulnerable this year because of the unusually early wildfire season, said Iga Stasiak, a wildlife health specialist with the Ministry of Environment. "At this time of year, many species are giving birth, so younger animals, nestling birds or animals that may be less mobile, may be unable to escape the fire," Stasiak said. That's what worried Ovide Michel when he and a group of firefighters in Pelican Narrows found a moose calf wandering alone near a highway about two weeks ago. "He was on the road for two days and I thought the mother would find it," said Michel, the mayor of the Village of Pelican Narrows. The group decided to rescue the calf, but realized they couldn't keep it and released it back in the area. They continued watching over it, but after two days the calf was gone. "I'm hoping the mother came back and found it," Michel said. It was a similar situation during the wildfire fight in the La Ronge area. Last week, Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson posted on social media that firefighters rescued a fawn that was wandering around a fireguard alone at night. "The fawn was safely released to the wild, by conservation officers, in the vicinity it was rescued," Cook-Searson said in the post. The Ministry of Environment recommends people leaving young animals alone because it's not always certain they were abandoned, Stasiak said, adding that moose and deer in particular leave their young hidden in brush or grass throughout the day to protect them from predators. "People may feel those animals are orphaned, but usually the mother is nearby and they have the best chance of survival with the mother," Stasiak said. Both experts said more research is needed to understand the long-term effects of wildfire on the boreal forest and its inhabitants. "Wildfire disturbance is a natural part of our ecosystem, but what we're seeing is more intense fires, greater frequencies of fire and hotter drier weather," Stasiak said. "This is a relatively new area that we're going to need to examine as the intensity and the frequency of these fires continues to increase with climate change."
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Flourish or flounder: How wildfires affect Boreal forest wildlife
There's an entire cycle of life that helps some wildlife thrive when the boreal forest burns, but experts say climate change and human activity have led to larger, more intense wildfires, exacerbating the negative effects on some species. While it's too early to know exactly how one of the worst wildfire seasons in Saskatchewan history is affecting wildlife, research shows some species have evolved over millennia to take advantage of forest fire cycles. "It's almost essential, particularly in the boreal forest, to have some degree of fire on the landscape, because it is important to create that sort of regenerative habitat for species that depend on it," said Jean-Michele DeVink, an environmental consultant and adjunct professor in the school of environment sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. "The challenge, of course, is that for other species that do require more mature forest, the extent of fires that we're seeing throughout the boreal forest is a bit of a problem." Some birds find feasts in a forest fire's aftermath. Certain types of beetles seek out fires because trees are more susceptible to infestation, and birds such as the black-backed woodpecker soon follow to feed on the larvae, DeVink said. Some mammals benefit because "the influx of nutrients into the soil after a fire and the regeneration of grass and young vegetation creates a lot of forage and a lot of food for herbivores like rabbits and a lot of the ungulates: the deer, the moose and the elk," DeVink said. Large animals like bears and deer are usually able to flee active fires, but newborns are particularly vulnerable this year because of the unusually early wildfire season, said Iga Stasiak, a wildlife health specialist with the Ministry of Environment. "At this time of year, many species are giving birth, so younger animals, nestling birds or animals that may be less mobile, may be unable to escape the fire," Stasiak said. That's what worried Ovide Michel when he and a group of firefighters in Pelican Narrows found a moose calf wandering alone near a highway about two weeks ago. "He was on the road for two days and I thought the mother would find it," said Michel, the mayor of the Village of Pelican Narrows. The group decided to rescue the calf, but realized they couldn't keep it and released it back in the area. They continued watching over it, but after two days the calf was gone. "I'm hoping the mother came back and found it," Michel said. It was a similar situation during the wildfire fight in the La Ronge area. Last week, Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson posted on social media that firefighters rescued a fawn that was wandering around a fireguard alone at night. "The fawn was safely released to the wild, by conservation officers, in the vicinity it was rescued," Cook-Searson said in the post. The Ministry of Environment recommends people leaving young animals alone because it's not always certain they were abandoned, Stasiak said, adding that moose and deer in particular leave their young hidden in brush or grass throughout the day to protect them from predators. "People may feel those animals are orphaned, but usually the mother is nearby and they have the best chance of survival with the mother," Stasiak said. Both experts said more research is needed to understand the long-term effects of wildfire on the boreal forest and its inhabitants. "Wildfire disturbance is a natural part of our ecosystem, but what we're seeing is more intense fires, greater frequencies of fire and hotter drier weather," Stasiak said. "This is a relatively new area that we're going to need to examine as the intensity and the frequency of these fires continues to increase with climate change."
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Sask. researcher studies bacterium that causes Lyme disease
As the ticks known to spread lyme disease are being found further north, researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are learning more about the bacteria.
