The National Capital Commission has procured eight GPS tracking collars as part of a study on wolves and coyote living in Gatineau Park.
The GPS collars will allow NCC researchers to observe where wolves and coyotes travel within and outside of Gatineau Park.
The first collar was used last week on a 22-kilogram male and the rest of the collars will be put on animals for the rest of winter.
Christie Spence, senior manager of natural resources and land management at Gatineau Park, says that several coyotes were struck last winter on a boulevard that cuts across the southern end of the park and crosses downtown Gatineau.
“We’d like to know where coyotes go for denning in the spring, or rendezvous sites for their pups, or where they hunt in the winter,” Spence says.
“The park isn’t big enough to sustain a whole population of wolves. They have to pass through to follow prey and find suitable habitat. We’d like to know if and where they’re using ecological corridors.”
It’s common for large mammals to make their way into urban areas through natural corridors, such as the Ottawa River, says Donna Dubreuil, president of Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre, an organization that works to preserve wildlife and their habitat.
Dubreuil says she doubts whether the information gathered in the study will alleviate urban-wildlife conflict, an issue raised when an elk wandered into Centretown in October and was euthanized.
Dubreuil says land managers like the NCC and the City of Ottawa should focus on creating a plan on how to interact with large mammals in urban settings.
The contract for the collars, valued at more than $38,000, was recently awarded to the Newmarket, Ont.-based company Lotek Wireless Inc., says NCC spokesperson Emily Keogh.