Carib Tykes in the News

Posted on Covertside's facebook page on Saturday 23 of July 2016.

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Hunting Steering Committee, Public Consultation of 16/7/16 Report

     The recommendations for proposed changes to the Conservation of Wildlife Act of Trinidad and Tobago, by the Hunting Steering Committee as presented to the public on 16/7/16 for the second public consultation held at the Tableland High School were as follows.

Cage Birds:

• Recommendation: Prevent the sale of cage birds during the closed season.                                   Action: Add regulation to prevent the sale of birds listed under Part III of the Second Schedule of the CoWA during the close season.
• Recommendation: A permit shall be required for the keeping in captivity of all local seed eaters of the genera Sporophila and Oryzoborus as listed in the second schedule part III of the Conservation of Wildlife Act of Trinidad and Tobago and said permit shall be subject to a framework of regulations, inclusive of breeding of seed eaters (native species ) in captivity.    Action: New regulations to keep and/or breed certain cage birds.
• Recommendation: Change size/volume requirement for cages per individual bird.             Action: No person shall keep captive any birds specified in Part III of the Second Schedule to the Act except in a cage floor space the minimum size of which shall be not less than one square foot, the height not less than one foot, the total volume excluding the trap section not less than one cubic foot for each such captive bird. For each additional bird an additional 25% floor space and 25% in height are required.
• Recommendation: No seed-eaters to be kept in trap cage.                                                     Action: New regulation needed.
• Recommendation: Stop trapping of birds from Part III with the exception of:                               Cravat ( Euphonia trinitatis)                                                                                                             Semp (Euphonia violacea)                                                                                                               Parakeet (Forpus passerinus)                                                                                                     these birds can be trapped and kept in trap cages.                                                             Action: Regulation will allow the following to be kept for breeding and fancy but not to be harvested in the wild by trapping:                                                                                         Chicki-Chong or Bullfinch (Oryzoborus angolensis)                                                                   Picoplat (Sporophila intermedia)                                                                                             Yellow-bellied seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis)                                                                           Chats: Nun Chat (Sporophila lineola) and King Chat (Sporophila bouvronides)

Game Birds:

• Leave the following on the Second Schedule Part II:                                                                   Wild Ducks: Black-bellied whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis),                                          Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor),                                                                        Muscovy (Cairina moschata) all other ducks to be removed.                                                        
• Pigeons (Family Columbidae): Omit all excepting Scaled Pigeon (Columba speciosa), Pale-vented Pigeon (Columba cayennensis), Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata), Ruddy Ground-Dove (Columbina talpacoti), White-tipped Dove (Leptotila verreauxi), Gray-fronted Dove (Leptotila rufaxilla).
• Orange-winged amazon parrot – Amazona amazonica in Trinidad only.
• Black Vulture or Corbeau – (Coragyps atratus)
• Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)
• Rallidae —All birds belonging to the Family Rallidae (Coots, Rails, Gallinules and their allies)
• Herons: Great blue heron (Ardea herodias), Cocoi heron (Ardea cocoi), Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), Yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea), Boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius)
• Recommendation: Prescribe Bag Limits per day.                                                                      Action: Already existing, but need revisions - 8. (1) Except in pursuance of an authority specially granted by the Chief Game Warden under this regulation, no person shall harvest by hunting more than five Wild Ducks and five Herons in any one day.

Vermin:

• Recommendation: Remove all bats from this list except the vampire bats: the Common Vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) and the White-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi) and update list.                                                                                                                                  Action: Revise list in Third Schedule and to the remaining animals assign correct scientific names:1. Common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) 2.White-winged vampire bats (Diaemus youngi) 3. Fer de lance, Mapepire Balsain (Bothrops asper) 4. Bushmaster, Mapepire Zanana (Lachesis muta muta) 5. House mice (Mus musculus) 6. Small Asian Mongooses (Herpestes javanicus) 7. Black rats (Rattus rattus) 8. Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) 9. Large coral snakes (Micrurus lemniscatus diutius) 10. Small or common coral snakes (Micrurus circinalis) 11. Red-tailed squirrels (Sciurus granatensis) 12. Yellowtail or cornbird (Psarocolius decumanus) 13. Manicou or Black-eared opossum (Didelphis marsupialis)
• Recommendation: Remove the green parrot on list.                                                               Action: Orange-winged Amazon Parrot: Amazona amazonica from Tobago only.

Other: 

• Recommendation: The use of air guns and live traps need to be reviewed with special emphasis given to proper definitions and descriptions of the varying types of traps, e.g. 1.baited cage trap, 2.squad or unbaited cagetrap placed in mouth of animals’ den, 3.jaw trap, 4. noose snare. Squads, jaw traps and noose or snares should be outlawed.                                             Action: New regulation may be needed.
• Recommendation: State Game Liscense – increase price to $100.00 per category.  Action: Revise regulations.
• Recommendation: Include state lands in the prohibition of night hunting (7:30pm – 5:00am) in Forest Reserves.                                                                                                                   Action: Revise regulation.
• Recommendation: Qualify further artificial lights mentioned in Reg. 5 (1).           Action: Revision of existing regulation.

*****

Below is an article appearing on http://newsday.co.tt/ concerning the HSC public consultation of 16/7/16. Caiere Chase does not claim or own any rights to this news article,all rights belong to the author and original publisher, it is only reproduced here in full for critique, news and archival purposes.

‘I eat wild meat’

By Richardson Dhalai Sunday, July 17 2016

Having objected to the ban on hunting when it had been announced during the People’s Partnership’s term in office, Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries Minister, Clarence Rambharat has announced that the hunting season would open on its traditional October 1 date.

In 2013, then Environment Minister, Ganga Singh, had announced a two-year ban on hunting and cited data which h seemed to suggest that more than 140,000 wild animals had been hunted and killed in Trinidad and Tobago over a three-year period.

Addressing a public consultation on wildlife hunting at the Tableland Secondary School, Naparima Mayaro Road, Tableland yesterday, Rambharat said he had not supported the hunting ban due to economic reasons and had ‘no intention of advocating a moratorium on hunting.” “I am not against hunting, but as I have said today, we have to strike the right balance between hunting and conservation,” Rambharat said.

And asked whether he was a hunter, Rambharat said: “No, no, no, never hunted.” However speaking to reporters after the consultation he admitted to eating wild meat as it was part of the culture of Rio Claro and pointed out hunting was of significant economic value to rural communities.

“Yes, I eat wild meat, it is part of the culture in Rio Claro,” he said, adding, “I am not opposed to hunters or hunting but I don’t personally hunt but the economic value in the rural communities is too significant for us to interfere with it.” And regarding the National Wildlife Survey results, he said the most striking thing on the survey was the absence of the indigenous red brocket deer in Tobago and its diminishing numbers in Trinidad.

“The survey showed that the red brocket deer, there is no sign of it in Tobago, and it’s very scarce in Trinidad and that raises to me a significant concern, I don’t think it is well known that the red brocket deer is unique to Trinidad, that is why I have asked the committee to pay particular attention to it, how we could reintroduce to Tobago and how we could focus on it in terms of co-conservation and increasing the numbers in Trinidad,” Rambharat said.

He said the deer had once been abundant in Tobago, but had “been gone for a while.” Rambharat also addressed a concern from hunters about the absence of game wardens in the forests saying his Ministry was faced with an absence of other officers such as agriculture officers and joked that he had to make an appointment to speak to them.

He also revealed plans to relocate all senior ministry managers to its Chaguanas building so he would be able to directly interact with them on a daily basis on the operations of the ministry.

Some of the concerns raised by hunters was the need to protect the wildlife as well as its habitat in order to ensure the industry’s survival. The third consultation is planned for Tobago. 

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How to Run a Trail-Camera Survey

A trail-camera survey – put simply – is the most powerful herd monitoring tool you can use that doesn’t require the assistance of a professional wildlife biologist. On your own, you can estimate deer density, sex ratio, buck age structure, fawn recruitment and more – tons of information that will guide you in achieving Quality Deer Management success where you hunt.

A trail-camera survey involves operating one camera per 100 acres over evenly spaced, baited sites for 14 days. The accuracy of your results depends on how well you run the survey. I compiled the following step-by-step guide for use in Quality Whitetails magazine based on the original research conducted in 1997 by Drs. Harry Jacobson and James Kroll, and I fine-tuned the guide with input from other wildlife biologists who conduct surveys. Even with this guide, you will still have a lot of questions as you work your way through your first trail-camera survey. To answer those questions, QDMA published a book, Deer Cameras: The Science of Scouting, which includes four chapters devoted to helping the reader run successful trail-camera surveys. If you are serious about improving the local deer population through QDM, we strongly encourage you to incorporate trail-camera surveys into your herd monitoring plan.

Of course, some hunters are prevented from conducting baited trail-camera surveys because local or state regulations prohibit the use of bait, such as corn. QDMA’s book goes into detail on different approaches these hunters can use to monitor their local deer population.

Now, for the step-by-step guide.

• Conduct trail-camera surveys in pre-season (after antlers are completely grown but before acorns begin to fall) or post-season (start as soon as hunting season ends but before antler casting begins).

• Avoid timing a survey when natural food sources, such as a heavy acorn crop, will compete with your bait. In general, shelled corn is the best bait to use.

• If you hunt in an area with a traditionally late rut peak (late December into January), wait until October for pre-season surveys so that fawns are old enough to be mobile and appear in survey photos.

• Follow all baiting and feeding regulations in your state.

• Determine the number of cameras needed. On properties smaller than 1,000 acres, use one camera per 100 or fewer acres. On larger properties, use one camera per 160 or fewer acres. NOTE: If you can’t afford or borrow enough cameras, rotate the cameras you have across the survey sites until each site has been monitored 10 to 14 days. If you do this, be sure to start the cameras at the same sites at the same time each year and rotate to new sites in the same order each year to keep survey results comparable across years.

• Using a map or aerial photo of your property, mark off a grid that divides the tract into one block per camera needed. Select a camera site close to the center of each block based on ease of access and deer activity. (deer travel routes, woods roads, etc.). Identify each grid with a number or letter (placing a numbered or lettered sign at each site so that it will appear in the photos will help you later to organize images and data by location. See the photo above as an example).

• Clear ground-level debris at each camera site to allow for clean images of deer. Orient the camera facing north to avoid backlighting caused by sunrise or sunset.

• Locate the camera approximately 12 to 20 feet from the bait, with the bait pile in the center of the image. Precise set-up varies with camera model.

• With digital cameras, set the delay for no less than 5 minutes to keep the number of images manageable.

• Once each site is ready, “pre-bait” for 7 to 10 days. Turn cameras on during this phase and monitor photos to ensure cameras are working and camera setup is good (for example, deer are not too close or too far from the camera).

• After 7 to 10 days, if deer are responding to your bait and traffic at each site is strong, begin the active survey phase (photos from this phase should be kept separate from older photos and saved for later analysis).

• Maintain the survey phase for 10 to 14 days (In research, 14 days captured 90 percent of all unique deer; 10 days captured 85 percent of unique deer, which is adequate for the survey if expenses must be minimized).

• Refresh memory cards, batteries and bait as needed, but otherwise keep human activity to a minimum. Wear rubber boots and gloves and practice scent-control measures whenever you visit the sites.
Collect cameras and compile images. Count the total number of bucks, does and fawns. “Fawns” are all deer under 1-year old, including button bucks. “Total” counts include known repeats of individual deer. Do not count deer you cannot identify as a buck, doe or fawn.

• Study photos closely to count unique bucks based on recognizable antler and/or body characteristics (ask for second opinions from friends or a consultant if any photos present tough calls). For example, you may have 100 total buck images but only 10 unique bucks in all. Your ratio of unique bucks to total bucks is therefore 1:10, or 10 percent (0.10).

Note: QDMA has created a free computation form that makes the next few steps very simple.

• Multiply your ratio of unique-to-total bucks by the total does and fawns to come up with an estimate of unique does and fawns. For example, if you have 200 total images of does and multiply it by your 0.10 ratio, you get an estimate of 20 unique does.

• Apply a correction factor to your estimates. If you ran the survey phase for the full 14 days, multiply each of your buck, doe and fawn estimates by 1.11 to adjust for deer you may not have photographed. If you ran the survey phase for 10 days, multiply by a correction factor of 1.18. The results are your adjusted estimates.

• You now have an estimate of the deer population separated by bucks, does and fawns. Use this data to produce estimated deer density, buck:doe ratio and fawn:doe ratio. Sort unique bucks by estimated age to evaluate age structure. If you need help interpreting results to guide future management decisions, talk to a local wildlife biologist or private wildlife consultant.

• Repeat the survey annually or as regularly as possible, using the same method, timing and camera sites, so that you can monitor trends in herd characteristics.

This may sound more difficult than it really is, but it's important to think through the details before you launch a trail-camera survey, or else your results may be compromised. The truth is, trail-camera surveys are fun, and they can produce valuable information even for your hunting strategies. .....................................

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Caiere Chase does not own or claim any rights to this article and it is reproduced here for news, critique and archival purposes. All rights to this article belong to the author and original publisher. This article was sourced from www.qdma.com

Hunting Steering Committee Rescheduling of Public Consultation