Wildlife Camera Update
In May 2022, the Kimberley Nature Park Society Natural History Group started a project with the goal to determine what wildlife is living in the Nature Park and and where they are thriving and travelling. With the very generous support of Teck Resources, whose Legacy Operations are based in Kimberley, four trail cameras where purchased for this purpose.
Two volunteers were assembled to manage each camera. The cameras have been moved throughout the Nature Park on game trails and other areas. Finding good locations for the cameras has been challenging and often what looks like a good game trail produces little traffic. Some cameras have been moved several times, while others have immediately found good locations to observe wildlife. Cameras have not been placed on human-use trails to preserve the privacy of park users.
We have had curious bears messing with cameras, and recently an elk licked a camera, with the result being blurry photos. The cameras also record video clips and we have seen the antics of bear cubs chasing each other and play-fighting. A video can be seen on a recent post on Kimberley Nature Park’s Facebook page if curious. To date, we have recorded moose, elk, mule deer and whitetail deer (some with their young), many black bears, coyote, red fox, skunk, pine marten, red squirrels, ravens, and woodpeckers. A wolf kill was discovered on the southwestern edge of the park and a camera was placed nearby but we have yet to photograph that species.
Most hikers and cyclists rarely encounter wildlife other than deer in the park, but all of these species call it home. The camera project offers us the opportunity to observe and record the inhabitants of the Nature Park and inform us on how park use might impact them and us. A special thanks goes out to the Kimberley Nature Park Society and to Teck Resources for making it possible to gather this information. If you are a park user that would like to support this project or have questions about it, please contact the Kimberley Nature Park at kimberleynaturepark@gmail.com.
