As our eyes scan the valley below us for signs of elk, Ryan Brook opens his knapsack and pulls out radio telemetry equipment and a clipboard.
Brook, a wildlife biologist from the University of Manitoba, studies the distribution and movement of elk in Riding Mountain National Park and their interactions with cattle. He is taking us in the hoofprints of some of the 2,700 elk that call Riding Mountain home, and showing us how to locate them using radio tracking equipment.
Riding Mountain, which was created 75 years ago, has come a long way since many of its forests were logged and its animals killed for their pelts. A biologically diverse place, about three hours northwest of Winnipeg, the park has recovered from being trampled by the heavy boots of human intrusion.
The revived park now sustains an elk-tracking tour, one of many Canadian Research Adventures organized by Earth Rhythms. The company, based in Onanole, Man., gives tour participants an unusual opportunity to tag along with park researchers and learn more about the work they are doing to address the gentle tug-of-war between human presence and the park's environment. Participants can learn about Manitoba elk with Brook, study grey wolves with Astrid Vik Stronen and Tim Sallows, or attend a session with aspen researcher Rod Lastra.
Former Parks Canada naturalist Celes Davar likes to take people off the beaten path. He came to Riding Mountain in 1979 and founded Earth Rhythms with his wife, Susan, after spending 17 years working in the park.
"We want to take people inside the story," he says. "This is my backyard. I live five minutes away from here, so I really mean it."
His backyard, Riding Mountain National Park, was created in 1930 as an example of southern boreal plains and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1986. It's perched on the Manitoba Escarpment, which rises 427 metres above the lowland plains. The park protects about 3,000 square kilometres of hills and valleys, boreal forests, aspen parkland and mixed-grass prairie.
It's also home to about 250 species of birds, more than 10,000 beavers, several thousand moose and elk, bison, coyotes, foxes, martens, deer and a threatened population of about 75 grey wolves. It's a place where the landscape is subtle and the wildlife doesn't perform for the cameras. It comes to you in its own time.
Although the park looks and feels like a pristine wilderness, it is one where humans have left their footprints. An area that is now open prairie was once full of aspen -- European settlers in the 1800s cut them down for building houses and for fuel. Fur traders also decimated the number of animals in the 1800s, and species such as the otter, marten and wolverine disappeared.
Recovery began when the area was declared a forest reserve in 1895; the land became a protected park in 1930. Commercial logging, however, continued in the park until 1946. Since then, wolves, elk, moose and beavers have returned to a place that receives around 400,000 human visitors each year.
The park is an island of wilderness surrounded by a sea of tamed agricultural land used for growing grain, forage crops and producing livestock and this has often lead to conflicts between wildlife and farmers. The elk are notorious for ignoring boundaries and sometimes fences. They treat hay bales belonging to local farmers just beyond the park as a personal restaurant.
When farmers began growing alfalfa about 15 years ago, the elk couldn't resist because they find it tastier than grass. Costing up to $250,000 a year in damage, Brook says, this dining experience isn't cheap. Compensation for farmers comes from a provincial fund, and park wardens help farmers install eight-foot high fences. Now, elk are also suspected of passing on bovine tuberculosis to cattle, forcing cattle herds to be put down.
Brook's four-year study in co-operation with Parks Canada and the University of Manitoba tracks the movements of the park's elk. Participants in the four-hour Canadian Research Adventure tour drive to a research site within the park. Beyond gaining information they won't find in park brochures, it's also a chance to play scientist for half a day.
Each elk in Brook's study has been tagged with a collar emitting its own radio frequency. After a demonstration of how to locate one, it's our turn. We hold up the radio and punch in the number assigned to a particular elk from the list on Brook's clipboard. Then we move it around carefully and use the antenna to gauge where the animal is.
Little beeps give us hints of its location, but we hold out for the beep that resonates the loudest. We take a compass reading and then record it on a Global Positioning System as well as on Brook's sheet. We are helping him gather data for his research, which is part of the learning experience, Davar says. "I want to create things that make people go away saying, 'Wow, I never knew that.' "
Davar loves the spring and the return of the wildlife he knows so well. "You're recognizing neighbours coming home, in essence," he says. But he thinks September, when the elk are rutting, is the best time for viewing wildlife. Visitors can hear them bugling as the park's sights and smells are changing. It's also one time of year when Brook probably doesn't need radio equipment to find his friends.
Pack your bags
GETTING THERE
Riding Mountain National Park is 2½ hours northwest of Winnipeg by car.
WHERE TO STAY
Elkhorn Resort Hotel and Conference Centre: Onanole, Man.; 1-866-355-4676; elkhornresort.mb.ca. Room rates start at $85 a night.
Wasagaming campground: 1-877-737-3783. Facilities include flush toilets and hot showers.
TOURS
Earth Rhythms: 1-888-301-0030; http://www.earthrhythms.ca. Guided Learning Adventures in Riding Mountain start at $55 a person.
MORE INFORMATION
Riding Mountain National Park: parkscanada.gc.ca/ridingmountain.
Travel Manitoba: 1-800-665-0040; http://www.travelmanitoba.com.
