After what Environment Minister Joe Savikataaq described as a successful first year in the Kitikmeot region, he announced on Thursday the expansion of the territorial government’s wolf sample collection program to the Kivalliq and Qikiqtaaluk regions.
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The program provides harvesters with $300 when they supply wolf samples and give details of their kill to local wildlife offices.
Fifty-two hunters harvested 146 wolves in the Kitikmeot region during the 2018-2019 season, with 101 coming from Kugluktuk and 45 from the region’s other communities, according to Savikataaq.
When it introduced the program last year, the Department of Environment stated that the information gathered from the samples will help researchers determine the wolves’ diet and whether the predators’ population skews younger or older. Wolves prey on caribou, among other Arctic species.