Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
December 2003

Alaska's Kenai Moose Research Center
A World Leader in Moose Science

By Riley Woodford

On a crisp morning this fall, biologist Stacy Jenkins tucked two oversize baby bottles under her arms and rallied her reinforcements. Her three babies were just a few months old, but they were pushy, hungry and well over 100 pounds each. Tom Lohuis carried a third bottle of warm milk, and John Crouse swung open the gate at the Kenai Moose Research Center. The three moose, bleating at the sight of breakfast, rushed headlong for the scientists.

Moose are popular with photographers and wildlife ...   Moose Research Article Continued


Skeleton in a Box
Students Build Science Kits from Roadkills

By Riley Woodford

Six new Alaska biology teachers are skeletons, thanks to students at Burchell High School.

During the past year, road-killed and donated moose, bears and wolves have been de-boned at the Wasilla alternative high school. Science teacher Tim Lundt's anatomy students transformed the carcasses into six polished, re-usable skeleton kits. Three kits - one of each animal - will stay with Lundt's anatomy class, while the other three will be at the Palmer Fish and Game office for teachers to check ...   Skeletons ArticleContinued


Caribou Comeback

By Riley Woodford

Seven hundred miles of spruce forests, river bottomland and rolling hills stretch between Fairbanks and Whitehorse. At the heart of this country, straddling the Alaska-Yukon border, the Fortymile River flows north into the Yukon River. This region is home to the Fortymile Caribou herd.

In the 1920s, estimates of the size of the herd ranged from 350,000 to more than half a million animals. The herd's geographic range encompassed some 85,000 square miles from Whitehorse to the White Mountains ...   Caribou Comeback ArticleContinued


Wonderful Caribou and I at Onion Portage

By Rebecca Haviland

I heard the caribou trotting in the distance as I walked along a path they had made through years of use. As they marched past me, I heard their unique grunting. I heard the thunder of splashing as a herd of caribou waded and jumped into the river on their migration to their winter grounds. As I listened, the pleasant smell of the aiyu and pine trees surrounded me. I would have never imagined being so close to a live caribou or holding them with my bare hands.

Nine White Mountain students ...   Caribou Kids ArticleContinued


How to Select a Hunting Guide

By Excerpted from Hunt Alaska

A registered Alaskan guide must accompany hunters who are not Alaska residents or they must hunt with close relatives within the second-degree of kindred who are Alaska residents when hunting brown/grizzly bears, Dall sheep or mountain goats. Also, look in the Alaska Hunting Regulations for definition and a complete list of who qualifies as second-degree of kindred. Non-resident alien hunters must have a guide for hunting all species of big game.

Guides improve the chance of finding game.

The ...   Choosing a Guide ArticleContinued