SCIENCE & WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION
ARCTIC WILDLIFE,
RESEARCH & SUPPORT FUND
together for a better future
On a blizzard day in the spring of 2013, we found ourselves weathered in during a Muskox Hunt. During my stay at the hotel, I had noticed some people who were not hunters and who were not looking at myself, nor our clients, very favourably.
As the hotel dining room was small, we had no choice but to start a conversation, discussing what we all were doing there…
I learned they were scientists doing studies on Muskox, a good thing for the community and us as sport hunters. However, they were unable to obtain the necessary samples they needed. Since we were harvesting Muskoxen, we were happy to get involved and pay the guides additional monies to collect the samples.
A PARTNERSHIP WAS BORN
for years to come
In short, an incredible, very successful partnership began between Canada North Outfitting, the University of Calgary, Dr Susan Kutz – Kutz Group, and the Government of Nunavut. We have continued to do these projects annually since then, and the program has been extended to more funding for community support.
This partnership is an excellent example of out-of-the-box thinking, where community hunters and scientists can come together for wildlife and the betterment of hunting.
A Letter From
Dr. Susan Kutz
The Kutz Research Group, led by Dr Susan Kutz at the University of Calgary, together with local Hunter and Trapper Organisations, territorial government, and Canada North Outfitting, conduct a community-based wildlife health surveillance program.
Our goal is to bring Indigenous Knowledge, Local Knowledge, and western Scientific Knowledge together to better understand how climate change, and other anthropogenic disturbances, affect wildlife health, wildlife conservation, and food security in the Arctic. Canada North Outfitting has partnered with the Kutz Research Group to support this program for over a decade.
Canada North Outfitting has been instrumental in logistical and financial support of the harvester-based health surveillance program and the Kutz Research Group’s broader Arctic Emerging Infectious Diseases program. Canada North has supported PhD students with the Shikar Foundation, a postdoctoral fellow with Mitacs, and with KUIU have committed to supporting work being done to investigate unusual mortalities in muskoxen. With this support, we are able to better understand the status and health of wildlife in the Arctic and help guide informed wildlife management decisions with the Governments of the NWT and Nunavut, and Indigenous co-management agencies.
Susan Kutz.